Just a Dream
by Victoria Taylor
Summary: Five Jr. High girls meet every day as they always do to talk about one thing... Star Trek. Not just any Star Trek show, Star Trek: Voyager. So imagine their shock when they found themselves on the bridge of the USS Voyager & are thrown into an adventure.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy._

* * *

Prologue

" Come on!" I said enthusiastically, "We have to go find Charlie!"

"Eye, Captain," Taylor said, grinning, as Rhanda, Meredith, and herself started following me.

"Rachel, slow down!" Meredith complained.

"No! We have to find Charlie so that I can tell you the news!" I replied, naming to last member of our five person group.

"There she is!" said Rhanda, pointing.

Charlie was standing by her locker, fiddling with the lock. We all walked up silently behind her to say our hellos.

"Hey, Doc!"

"What's up, Doctor!"

"Permission to say, 'hi' ?"

"Yo, my trekkie friend!"

Charlie turned around, smiling.

"Hello!" she said, voicing what we all meant.

"You guys! Now that we're together, I have incredible news! Listen to this!" I exclaimed, capturing all their attentions. Then I hesitated, and they immediately reacted.

"What is it?" said Rhanda.

"Tell us!" prodded Taylor.

"Come on, spit it out!" said Meredith, giving me a nudge.

Charlie just looked at me. I felt a grin slowly spread across my face.

"Voyager," I said, pausing to build the suspense, "is coming to DVD!"

They all stared at me, speechless. Then grins spread across their faces, too.

Meredith let out a whoop. Rhanda shrieked, clapping both hands over her mouth. Taylor jumped up and down, punching the air, yelling, "Yes, Yes, YES!" Charlie beamed.

I started laughing. I couldn't stop. I laughed and laughed. My laughter was contagious. Within one minute we were all laughing fit to burst. We were holding onto each other for support and stamping our feet and holding our stomachs. Then I couldn't see anything. Tears started blurring my vision, I was laughing so hard.

When I finally stopped laughing and opened my eyes, I saw that I was holding on to Meredith's shoulder. I let go, still grinning, looking around at my friends. They also had obviously had a hard time pulling themselves together.

I thought, "Wow, that was a lot of laughing at nothing!"

That was when I noticed our surroundings. I stopped smiling as my mouth fell open with amazement. My friends were also gazing around, astonished. I regained control of my voice and my mouth felt dry.

"Well, I guess we won't be needing those DVDs," I said, quietly.

We were standing on the bridge of Voyager.

* * *

_Author's Note: This story was written in a four year period and has been done for quite so time. My friend wanted me to make sure I mention that to all the readers. I'm sure you will get a laugh out of that. Anyway this story is slightly a novel so it may be extremely long. I hope you enjoy it and please read and review. I would love to have something to gossip about with her._


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 1 - Bridge_

Captain Kathryn Janeway was sitting in her command chair reviewing a padd about problem in sickbay when she heard a strange sound and looked up. Her mouth fell open. Five girls, all about thirteen years old, were standing on her bridge, stunned looks on their faces. One of the girls said something she couldn't hear, and slowly, one by one they started smiling.

By then, the entire bridge crew knew what was happening and everyone was either staring at the five girls, or at her, waiting to see what she would do next. Reigning in her shock, Janeway pushed herself out of her chair.

"Who are you?" she asked, and when they didn't answer right away she added, "What are you doing on my ship?"

There was an immediate reaction, all of them trying to talk at once.

"We're on Voyager?!"

"No way!"

"Impossible!"

"Wow!"

"We have to meet B'Elanna Torres!"

The last sentence was spoken by a petite girl with long, light-colored hair that reached down past her waist. She had on black pants, a white T-shirt, and glasses. Her sentence made the other girls smile knowingly and exchange looks. The bridge officers glanced at each other, unnerved. How did they know who their Chief Engineer was?

Suddenly, an awful thought jumped into Janeway's mind; a thought which she quickly put into the air.

"Are you Q?" she said crisply, new suspicions aroused. If they really were Q, an obnoxious race of immortal, "omnipotent" beings, then she wanted to get them off her ship as fast as possible. Janeway gave an internal shudder. She didn't even want to think about what had happened the last time a Q had shown up on her ship.

"Oh! No, of course we aren't!" a girl with brown hair and glasses said, "I'm sorry, we should have introduced ourselves. Actually, we're human."

The girl moved her hand to indicate each girl in turn.

"I'm Rachel. These are my friends: Rhanda, Meredith, Taylor, and Charlie. And to answer the next question you're going to ask, we have no idea how we got here. We were at school. . .,"

She indicated the different colored packs on each of their backs, looking all similarly big and bulky.

". . .and then we were suddenly here."

"What do you need those big, heavy things at school for?" Tom Paris butt in.

Janeway shot him a look, but said nothing. The girl (Rachel was it?), however, turned around and smiled at him.

"To carry our books," she replied casually.

"Books?" Paris said, confused. No one carried around old-fashioned books. Everyone used PADDs, which were smaller, lighter, and carried many times the amount of information.

Rachel laughed. "We're from the twenty-first century."

There was a long pause before Janeway said what everyone was thinking, "What?!"

She said it softly, but knew that everyone could hear her perfectly. That was because the bridge had fallen so quiet that you could hear a padd drop. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Paris gaping openly.

"That's right!" another girl piped up, "Early twenty-first century. We know all about you though!"

The girls seemed to have gotten over their amazement at suddenly appearing out of thin air on a ship 70,000 light years from Earth. Not to mention three hundred years in the future. Unfortunately, it also seemed that now they all wanted to talk. At once. A babble of excited conversation broke out between them.

"Enough!"

Janeway's strong voice stopped them all mid-sentence. The girls stared at her.

"I want a few questions answered first," she said, using a nicer, but still commanding tone, "Then you can talk all you want in the Mess Hall. Understood?"

Five voices in unison answered her at once.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good," she tapped the communications badge on her chest, "Senior officers to the conference room immediately."

She had already crossed the full length of the bridge before turning around and motioning for the five girls to follow her.

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You're telling me that you appeared on my ship from twenty-first century Earth?!"

The senior staff was seated at the table in the conference room. Five more chairs had been pulled up for the girls, who were now extremely quiet and paying rapt attention. Janeway smothered a smile. Obviously she had made an impression.

They were stumped as to how five girls from the twenty-first century could appear out of nowhere on their ship. Especially from Earth, which they had been separated from and hadn't seen in years.

"Yeah," one of the girls said, lighting the room with her smile.

They had listened to the girls' account of arriving on Voyager. It hadn't given them much to go on. Okay, it gave them nothing to go on. Apparently, each of the girls had closed her eyes, and when she had opened them, she was on Voyager. Added up with their own account of the girls arriving, they hadn't gotten very far. They were also running out of ideas.

"A temporal anomaly," B'Elanna Torres suggested, but she looked doubtful.

"Inside the ship? I don't think so," Harry Kim, the ops officer said, "We haven't detected anything unusual on sensors, either."

"It is not a very likely possibility," Tuvok, a Vulcan and the chief of security, stated calmly.

"Maybe we're dead," one of the girls piped up suddenly.

"Huh?!" another of the girls, Meredith said, looking confused.

"Maybe we died and now we're here because. . .," it was Rachel talking Janeway now realized.

"Because this is. . .um. . .an afterlife!" Rhanda finished for her, jumping into the conversation with excitement.

"I like being dead!" Meredith said brightly.

"Excuse me," Taylor, one of the girls, interrupted, "Sorry that I have to mention this, but I think your imaginations are taking control of your heads. No more coffee for you, Rachel and Rhanda!"

Captain Janeway looked up in surprise, "You like coffee?"

The senior staff members tried to suppress their smiles at the mention of their captain's addiction to coffee, but they didn't quite manage it.

Finally, Commander Chakotay cleared his throat, interrupting the very animated conversation Janeway, Rachel, and Rhanda were having about the different blends of coffee.

"Ahem," Chakotay said, "Don't you think we're a little off topic?" he said carefully.

"Oh, yeah," Rachel sighed. The energy flowed from her so fast Janeway could swear she saw it fly out into space. "I guess you're right."

"We aren't getting anywhere!" Paris groaned. Janeway personally agreed.

"All right," she said, without any real conviction, "Let's move on. How do you girls know so much about us?" She hadn't even bothered to introduce herself, seeing as they already knew exactly who she was.

At her question, the girls glanced at each other, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"We. . .well. . .we, uh. . .it's just. . .um, yeah," one of them stuttered.

"What she means is, maybe it. . .well, wouldn't be such a good idea to tell you," another girl, Taylor, explained.

"Why not!" exploded Torres.

The girls looked nervous. "Well, um, because. . . the temporal prime directive!" Rachel said suddenly, "We really, really shouldn't discuss it. It. . . sort of concerns your future."

"Captain," Tuvok said in his calm, Vulcan voice, "May I remind you that if we find out about our future, it could change considerably. We should take that into consideration."

"Maybe so," Torres interrupted, "but they can still tell us how they know about us."

Torres crossed her arms across her chest and Janeway realized she had a point. She looked at the girls. The girls looked at each other. Finally, Rachel opened her mouth.

"We can't tell you," she said confidently.

Janeway saw Torres open her mouth to retort, but before she could say anything, another girl spoke. Janeway recognized her as Rhanda.

"We are sorry. We just can't tell you. It doesn't totally make sense to us, either."

Janeway was pleased at Torres' control of her anger. It was harder for her than most since she was half Klingon. But she had more important things to deal with now.

"Fine," she snapped, "B'Elanna. Harry. I want you two to work together to figure out how these girls got here, and how to get them back. Neelix, take our guests on a tour of the ship."

"Aye, Captain," Neelix said quickly.

"Tom, you're our unofficial expert on the twenty and twenty-first centuries. Try to make these girls feel at home. All right, anything else?"

"Um, yes, I have a question," Rachel said hesitantly.

"Go ahead," Janeway nodded.

Rachel held out a pencil. "Can I have your autograph?"

* * *

_Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy._


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 2 - Mess Hall_

"Okay," Rachel said, in a commanding voice when she was sure they were all seated and no one was listening to their conversation, "Options."

The five girls were sitting in the mess hall around a table, discussing their problem. Well, okay, so it wasn't exactly a problem , since they were all thrilled to be on Voyager.

"Well," said Taylor in a sarcastic voice, "We could stay here. Or . . . we could, stay here."

"Sounds good to me!" Meredith piped up. Taylor groaned and rolled her eyes. Then she sighed contentedly.

"I feel like I'm in a dream," she said lazily, her eyes taking on a glazed look.

Rachel grinned, "Yeah! A dream come true!"

The girls all smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Do you think we should have told them how we know about them?" Rhanda said suddenly, changing the tone of the conversation.

"No!" Everyone answered immediately, even Meredith. When she looked surprised at the outburst, Rachel explained.

"How would you feel if someone came up and told you that your whole life wasn't real and you were a television program?"

She pondered, then said, "I wouldn't believe them."

"And do you want the Voyager crew to think you're crazy?"

"I think that's already covered," Taylor said, glancing meaningfully at Meredith, "You guys already crazy enough!"

"Okay, okay, I get it," said Rhanda, "Let's change topics here." She lowered her voice, "What season do you think we're in?"

"I'm not sure," Charlie whispered, "but it must be after the third - Captain Janeway's hair is short."

"There was one episode in the second season when her hair was short!" Meredith added eagerly, "I never figured out how they did it. It was long again after that one episode."

"You guys are sad! You're trying to figure out what season we're in by looking at Captain Janeway's hair!" Taylor choked out, quite loudly, in exasperation.

"Shhh!"

"I am shhhushing!"

"Taylor!" Rachel said in a hushed voice, "keep your voice down! We don't want anyone to hear us. And don't scoff; our method does work. I think I know what season we're in."

"What!" Meredith yelped, completely forgetting to be quiet, "We've been getting all worked up about something you already knew the answer to?!"

"I don't know yet!" Rachel said hotly, "but I will soon."

With that she leaned back in her chair and, ignoring her own advice, yelled across the room to B'Elanna Torres, who was sitting at a table with her boyfriend, Tom Paris.

"HEY! B'ELANNA TORRES!! HI, SORRY, BUT I WAS WONDERING, HOW MANY YEARS HAS VOYAGER BEEN IN THE DELTA QUADRANT?"

B'Elanna stared at her for a second before answering.

"ABOUT SIX AND A HALF!" she shouted back.

"THANKS!"

She turned back to the group.

"Season six."

They all stared at her.

"Why are you all staring at me? What?!"

Rhanda spoke up.

"I can't believe you just did that."

Rachel shrugged.

"Oh well, we got the information we needed. We're in season six."

"That means," Charlie said, looking worried, "We can't talk about anything beyond that point. Ever. Not even among ourselves. We can't tell anyone about anything that happens in season seven. It might effect their future."

"That's not a problem for us," Rhanda said, gesturing to herself and Meredith, "We haven't seen anything after season five."

"Yes, but there are other factors that you know anyway," Rachel pointed out, "Like Tom and B'Elanna getting married. We can't tell anyone about that. If we were to be overheard. . ."

". . . the outcome could be disastrous," Charlie finished.

"We understand," Taylor said, "But we can talk about Voyager's past, since that already happened to them, and they already know about it - right?"

"I guess so," Charlie agreed.

They talked for another five minutes before Taylor sniffed the air.

"Food!" She cried out hungrily.

"Oh no! Taylor's hungry! Run for it!" Charlie joked.

"What are you talking about? I'm always hungry! I'm going to get some lunch," Taylor said, oblivious to her friends' laughter.

By the time she got back, their giggles had subsided, and they all stared.

"Wow," Meredith said, her eyes as big as rocks.

"Yup, 'Wow' just about covers it," Rachel said, backing her up, "Taylor, do you mind explaining to us how you're going to eat all this and not gain ten pounds?"

Taylor beamed. Her plate was heaped with noodles, salads, and many other kinds of foods that looked gross and inedible.

"Neelix's cooking! Looks good, huh!"

"Um. . .," Rhanda said, "I wouldn't go that far."

All the girls grinned. Then, a small, perky voice spoke from behind them.

"Hi!" it said.

The girls looked around and saw the smiling face of a five-year-old girl.

"Naomi! Sit down and join us!" Rachel said, grinning back.

Naomi looked surprised.

"How do you know my name?"

Rachel thought fast.

"Um, everyone knows your name!"

"Really?"

"Of course! You were the first child to be born on Voyager! You're very special to everyone on this ship. They talk about you a lot."

"Yah!" Charlie said, catching on, "You're famous!"

"Hear, hear!" Taylor agreed, making everyone laugh.

"Oh," said Naomi, smiling, as she clambered onto a chair next to Rachel, looking pleased.

"So," Rachel asked, "Why did you come to see us?"

Naomi beamed, "As Captain's Assistant, I wanted to be the first to officially welcome you to Voyager."

"Thank you! That's very nice of you," Rhanda said, grinning at her.

The girls listen for a couple of minutes to Naomi's constant babble of conversation before Rachel decided something important.

"Naomi?"

"Yes?"

Rachel glanced at her friends, who nodded, then said, "Naomi do you want to join our group?"

Naomi looked from one girl to another before pulling herself up like the captain and proudly pronouncing the words, "I accept."

"All right!" Rachel said, beaming at her, then throwing one arm around her shoulder to pull her closer in, "but there are some things you have to know first. . ."

It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

* * *

"I do not like them!"

B'Elanna Torres stormed out of the mess hall, fuming. Tom Paris was right behind her.

"B'Elanna, calm down!"

"No! I really, really do not like them."

"B'Elanna, they just asked a question."

"Just a question! That girl shouted across the mess hall at me! They won't even tell us how they know our names and everything about us. They walk around acting like we're old friends!"

They stepped into a turbolift and the doors whooshed closed behind them. Harry was standing in it.

"Oh, hi Harry," Tom said, then he ordered the computer, "Deck six."

"What's got you so worked up, B'Elanna?" Harry questioned.

"B'Elanna's annoyed about those girls," Tom said quickly, before B'Elanna could open her mouth to start shouting again. He filled Harry in.

Harry started shooting nervous looks at B'Elanna and backing away.

"Cut the act, Harry," B'Elanna sighed.

"I can't help it!" Harry defended himself, "It always seems like I'm the one who gets picked on whenever you're in a bad mood."

"Harry," Tom said, as though explaining something quite obvious to a child, "Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry. When will you learn?"

"Learn what?!" Harry said, sounding very annoyed indeed.

"Harry! You always get picked on whether B'Elanna's in a bad mood or not!" Tom babbled loudly, then he added in a whisper, "But B'Elanna's always in a bad mood anyways."

B'Elanna sent him a glare and he gave her an innocent look. They rode in silence for a few moments before Tom slapped a hand to his head.

"Darn! I left my padd in the mess hall! We have to go back for it."

B'Elanna groaned.

"Deck two," Harry ordered.

* * *

When the turbolift came to a halt and the threesome stepped out, they were all in a bad mood. What they didn't know was that it was about to get worse. They started walking down the corridor that lead to the mess hall. They were about to round the corner when they heard voices, and stopped, listening. A feminine voice penetrated the air.

"Ooo! Remember the episode when Tom took B'Elanna to that Klingon holodeck program and she hated it! 'I understand you didn't like the program, but why do you have to be so hostile!' 'I am not hostile!' It was hilarious!"

"Yes! That was a good one!" came another voice, also female, " 'Harry, do you think I'm hostile?' 'No, no, no, of course not!'"

Then five voices chorused together, saying sarcastically, " 'Then why do you look like you're afraid for you're life?' "

There was muffled laughter. Torres seethed. Harry's face was pink. Tom was frowning. The voices died away and the path to the mess hall was clear. Torres didn't move. Her hands were clenched into fists and shaking at her sides.

"How do they know?" Harry asked, softly.

"I don't know," B'Elanna answered, her voice coated with suppressed rage, "But I'm going to find out."

* * *

_Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy._

_Author's Note: I'm going to get tired real quick with reposting this disclaimer every time so this disclaimer and the disclaimers before applying to the whole story. The end. Do fell free to read and review though. I would and my friend would like that very much._


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 5 - Corridor_

Charlie giggled. She loved quoting from episodes.

"I'm only the chief medical officer! What do I know!" she said, making her friends laugh even more.

"Oh!" Taylor suddenly said, "speaking of the doctor, let's go visit him!"

"Okay!" Charlie said readily. But she noticed the other girls didn't look so happy with the suggestion.

"Um. . .," Rhanda said hesitantly, "We met him yesterday on the tour of the ship. Isn't that enough?"

"No," Charlie and Taylor said in unison.

"Let's go!" Taylor started down the corridor. Rhanda, Rachel, and Meredith didn't move.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked.

Rhanda sighed. "The truth is. . .the doctor is kind of annoying," she said, looking up carefully for Charlie's reaction.

"Very annoying," Meredith said, helpfully.

"And his ego is as big as life," Rachel agreed, looking warily at Taylor, as if she might decide to attack them for saying that, "Don't take it personally."

Taylor glared at her.

"Okay, okay," Rachel said, "Taylor and Charlie will go to sickbay. Rhanda, Meredith and me. . ."

"And I," Rhanda reprimanded automatically.

"Whatever," said Rachel, waving it away. Anyway, we can go to the holodeck. We'll all meet in two hours in the mess hall for lunch."

"That sounds good," Charlie agreed, "Naomi will be done studying about Earth with Seven of Nine by then. She can come, too."

Rachel smiled at the mention of Naomi, "Good idea. I'm really glad we told her about everything."

"You mean how Voyager is a television show?" Rhanda asked, "Yeah, me too. She took it really well. For a five-year-old that is."

"OK," Meredith cut it, grinning, "Enough dawdling. Let's go!"

The girls smiled at each other before saying their usual farewell (Live long and prosper), and going their separate ways.

* * *

"They just know too much about us for comfort!"

Chell, a former Maquis member, was talking to Commander Chakotay over a few drinks in his office.

"Chell," Chakotay said, "I can't do anything about it! They may look suspicious, but they haven't shown any hostility or given us any reason to make us think that they aren't what they say they are."

"Well, besides the fact that they know a lot about us," he added as an afterthought.

"Exactly! They know a lot about us. Too much in fact! None of the crew feels safe with them around!" Chell said, clearly distressed.

Chakotay took a sip of his drink, pondering his answer. "Chell, they're okay, I've met them. Give them a chance."

Chell put on a pouting face. "They aren't calling you Flotter! Just because I'm blue. . .," he grumbled under his breath.

"It's called a nickname Chell. They're just having some fun with you. They like you!"

Chell put his head in his arms.

"Great, just great," he said dejectedly.

"Get to know them," Chakotay prodded, "They'd be happy to go for a few rounds of Parrises Squares in the holodeck. Naomi's really taken to them."

"Her and the doctor and no one else!" Chell groaned, "Everyone either is too creeped out by the knowledge they have about us, or they're scared about what B'Elanna is going to do to them if they get to close. She's been giving scorching looks to anyone who even talks to them. She's really offended by them for some reason, and no one who knows what she's capable of wants to get in her way."

"Speaking of B'Elanna, I'm going to have to have a talk about this with her, too."

Chakotay said, thoughtfully.

Chell's eyes grew wide.

"Don't mention my name! Whatever you do DON'T MENTION ME! I had nothing to do with it! I was never here!" said Chell, jumping out of his chair and shouting almost hysterically.

"Okay, Chell, okay! Calm down!"

"I'm calm," he said, breathing heavily, "Caaaalm. Very calm. Perfectly all right. Not worried in the slightest."

Chakotay crossed his arms across his chest and looked at him.

"And afraid for my life!" Chell finished, his voice becoming a high squeak.

Chakotay stared at him.

"Ah. . . just joking?" Chell said, nervously avoiding his angry looks.

Chakotay glared at him.

"Go get B'Elanna."

Chell gulped.

* * *

"BEEP-boop."

The door to Captain Janeway's ready room beeped.

"Come in," she called.

The door swooshed open and Lieutenant-Commander Tuvok stepped into the room. Captain Janeway looked up from the padd in her hands.

"Yes, Tuvok?" she said, placing it on the desk.

"Captain, normally I would not be discussing such a thing with you, but some of the crew are concerned about the five girls that appeared on our ship."

Captain Janeway frowned, "What about them?"

"The crew is. . .disturbed. . .by the amount of knowledge that they possess about us. They have asked me to speak to you about them. I am also worried about the security risks that they pose to the ship."

"Security risks?" Captain Janeway repeated incredulously, "They're adolescent human beings! And there are only five of them."

"Whether there are five or twenty-five of them, it matters not," Tuvok said logically, "They still pose a security risk. Added to that, ship morale is going down. The crew is becoming suspicious and on-edge."

Janeway sighed, "Fine Tuvok. Keep a closer watch on them."

"Aye, Captain."

* * *

Tom Paris pressed the control panel on the wall, and the holodeck doors opened.

Why had B'Elanna wanted to meet him here, and what was so urgent?

He stepped into the holodeck, and the doors closed behind him. A program was running. He was standing in the countryside, at dusk, clearly after a long rain.

"What's going on?," he thought, "Where is she?"

"B'Elanna?" he said out loud, hoping for an answer.

The air was almost loud with silence. Then, Tom heard muffled footsteps behind him. He spun around.

A large piece of metal swinging towards his head was the last thing he saw before darkness descended.

* * *

Captain Janeway put down the last padd in the stack of paperwork and groaned, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

"Beep-boop."

She groaned again as the door beeped.

"Come in."

Tuvok walked casually through the doorway for the second time in one hour. She stared at him.

"Tuvok," she said surprised, "Two visits in one day? That's a little much even for you."

"I apologize for disturbing you, Captain, but it was necessary. I must inform you that Tom Paris has been found unconscious in holodeck two."

"What?!"

"The doctor has diagnosed that he was hit over the head with a blunt object of some sort, and then drugged with an unidentified substance," Tuvok informed her.

"How is he?"

"I do not posses that knowledge," Tuvok said, "however, I do know that the doctor has been unsuccessful in his attempts to revive him."

"Did you say he was attacked?" Janeway said disbelievingly.

"That is correct. The doctor informs me that it would, logically, be someone currently on the ship."

"The girls?" Janeway asked quickly.

"Three of them are in holodeck one, while the other two are in sickbay. Security is awaiting your orders."

Captain Janeway came out from behind her desk and began pacing the room. Suddenly, Q's words came back to her.

Oh! This is a toughie. But then again, that's why they made you captain isn't it? To handle the real tough ones.

Yes, this definitely was a "tough one" , as Q had put it. A member of the crew had been attacked. The attacker was either a member of the crew. . . or one or more of the five mysterious teenage girls that had appeared out of nowhere on her ship. Furthermore, the girls knew things about them, about their lives, personal and impersonal, that no one else knew. It wasn't only suspicious, it was unnerving. Then there was the fact that she trusted every member of this crew. How long had they been out here? Six years? If one of them was going to defect, they would have done it much earlier. She made her decision.

"No, don't let the girls know anything yet. But I want someone watching them at all times."

"Yes, Captain," Tuvok said, accepting her decision. Then he added, "What should I inform the crew?"

"Tell them. . .that their suspicions may be correct."

* * *

B'Elanna's focused on repairs, trying think about how Tom was lying unconscious in sickbay. How he was alone. How he possibly was never going to wake up again.

Stop it, B'Elanna! Thinking like that won't get him better, and it certainly won't help you any.

Sighing, she packed up her equipment and replaced the piece of the bulkhead she had removed to get to the ship's circuitry. The gel pack she had been looking at hadn't really needed fixing. She had created the minor problem to keep her mind occupied. It hadn't worked.

She picked up the toolkit and crawled through the Jeffries tube, going back the same way she had come. As she crossed an intersection, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and frowned disapprovingly. Who was in a Jeffries tube at this time of night? She had told everyone that she would be able to handle it! Granted, she had been there for about an hour, but they shouldn't be expecting her for another fifteen minutes. She shook her head and kept crawling, still thinking about the strange being that had disappeared so quickly.

She rounded the corner, still lost in thought. It was due to this fact that she was taken by complete surprise when she ran into someone. She looked up.

"Oh! Hi, what are you doing here?" she asked the person in front of her.

Her companion didn't answer. B'Elanna yelped as she heard a hiss and felt the sting of a hypospray on her neck, informing her that something had just been injected into her body. She clapped a hand to her neck.

"What was that?" she said, glaring up at the familiar face.

No answer.

She sighed, "The least you can do is . . ." B'Elanna stopped talking as the face of the person in front of her started fading in and out of focus.

"Okay. What's going on?" B'Elanna said thickly. Or she tried to say. Her tongue didn't seem to be working. Her arms felt like they were made of cargo containers, and her head was suddenly packed full of cotton.

Then, like a burst of flame, the pieces clicked together, and she figured out something she didn't really want to know.

"It was you!" she whispered, the words slurring together, her vision becoming blurrier every second, "You're the one who knocked out Tom."

Her assailant nodded, "Very good, Torres."

"No," she whispered, looking up into the cold eyes of the person above her as she sank slowly to the ground, "You're supposed to be my friend!"

B'Elanna knew she'd been drugged, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She felt a rush of anger toward the person towering over her, but the drug was working too quickly for her taste. She only managed six words.

"I thought you were my friend."

B'Elanna's resistance to the inevitable broke finally broke, and her head hit the ground with a thud as merciful darkness consumed her. But not before she heard the response her last statement had brought out of her attacker. The words chilled her heart.

"You thought wrong."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 5 - Sickbay_

"B'Elanna! Tom!"

Captain Janeway and the Doctor looked up as Harry Kim rushed through the doors of sickbay and skidded to a halt, looking horrified at the sight of his two closest friends lying unconscious on the biobeds. He looked frozen for a moment, but then he went over to stand by Tom's side.

"What happened?" he asked, sadly looking down at his unconscious friends.

"They were attacked," Janeway replied, "We don't know who did it, but we have suspicions. If there is another attack, I will give the order to arrest the five girls and bring them in for questioning."

"The girls?! You think they did it?" Harry said, surprised.

"Yes. Tuvok has collected more evidence," she smiled a little, "B'Elanna wasn't too fond of them, was she?"

"Isn't to fond of them," Harry said, looking slightly panicked at her use of past tense, "Isn't!"

"Isn't," Janeway corrected.

Harry turned back to the limp forms and looked down at them sadly. When he felt a hand on his forearm, he looked up to see both Captain Janeway and the Doctor staring at him worriedly.

"You're sure you're all right, Harry?" Janeway said, suddenly looking like a concerned mother bear protecting her cub.

Harry smiled at this thought, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. These things happen. It's part of being in space."

He might have fooled her if he didn't sound so miserable.

"Harry?"

"I said I'm fine!" he snapped. The doctor looked taken aback and retreated to the other end of sickbay.

Janeway sighed, "All right, Harry. You know where I am if you need me."

She turned and headed for the door.

"Captain!"

She faced Harry once more.

"Captain, I. . . . just catch whoever did it. For me."

Captain Janeway then gave Harry the strangest look as she answered, "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Taylor and Charlie watched the two sets of feet leave sickbay before crawling out from behind the desk. Taylor's face was contorted with anger.

"How dare they," she growled, "how dare they blame us for their own internal problems!"

Charlie looked worried and sad, "How can they think we did it? How?"

"It's totally unfair," Taylor said loudly, ranting on, "they can't just arrest us if there's another attack! What evidence can they possibly have to convict us! What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? Or did they get rid of that in the four-hundred years since we hear it last?! Agh! We didn't do it! They can't do this! Why I outta. . ."

"Ahem."

Both girls spun around at the sound of someone clearing their throat. They gasped when they saw who was behind them. It was the Doctor. They hadn't even noticed that he was still in the room. Taylor blushed as she realized that he had heard everything she had said, and looked guiltily up at him.

"I. . .I can explain. . . we didn't do it, I was just. . ." Taylor tried to explain, but the Doctor cut her off.

"I believe you."

Taylor and Charlie looked surprised, but flattered and extremely thankful.

"You do?" Charlie said, smiling happily.

"Yes, I do," the Doctor said firmly, "And I intend to convince the rest of the crew."

A strong voice form the door startled them all.

"No, Doctor."

Naomi was standing in the doorway looking determined.

"What?! Why? You don't want me to convince the rest of the crew?" the Doctor said, confused.

"No," Naomi repeated, walking into the room, "Don't tell anyone anything."

"Do you mind telling me why not?" the Doctor pressed, "They're innocent!"

"I know. I'll explain when we get back," Naomi spoke hurriedly, while pulling Taylor and Charlie toward the back of sickbay. She opened the hatch to a Jeffries tube and motioned for Taylor and Charlie to climb in.

"Naomi," Taylor said frowning, "What's going on?"

"There has been another attack," she answered, her voice trembling slightly, "It's Harry Kim this time."

"What?!" the Doctor yelped, horrified, "Harry! But he left sickbay only fifteen minutes ago!"

"He was found unconscious in a turbolift," Naomi said quickly, "I was passing by when I heard the grown-ups talking. But that doesn't matter now! Security knows where you are! They're heading for sickbay right now!"

Taylor and Charlie needed no more convincing. They scrambled into the Jeffries tube.

"Doctor," Naomi ordered, "We need you to cover for us. Don't even say that you believe us. We need someone working on the inside."

The Doctor was still for a moment, then slowly, hesitantly, he nodded.

"Count me in."

Internally, the Doctor sighed, thinking, "I don't believe it - I'm taking orders from a five-year-old. My program must have peanut butter stuck in it.

He sighed as he realized what he had just thought and shook his head at the influence Tom Paris was having on his vocabulary.

Naomi nodded at him once, and gave him one last look before getting into the Jefferies tube and closing the hatch - just as security burst into sickbay.

* * *

"Ahhh!"

Rhanda's hand sliced through the air, hitting the soft shield with a thud. The shield went flying out of Meredith's hands and she landed on the floor, looking stunned.

"Wow," Rachel said in an awed voice from behind her, "Rhanda, I thought you took self defense, not annihilate the enemy!"

Rhanda grinned at the compliment, but a second later she froze in surprise as the side of a wall in the karate studio opened, and Taylor, Charlie, and Naomi tumbled out.

"What the. . .?" Meredith started to say, but Naomi cut her off.

"No time to explain, security is coming for you!" she said, very fast, while getting up and walking over to them. Then, before they could stop her, she pulled off their combadges and tossed them to the floor.

"Hey!" Rachel protested.

"They think you knocked out Tom," she explained quickly.

"What!!" Meredith said again.

"No time!" Naomi repeated, motioning with her hand, "Come on!"

The girls knew that this was not the time to protest. They got into the Jeffries tube and headed for sickbay, Naomi in the lead, explaining on the way.

Less than five minutes later, they reached sickbay. Naomi opened the Jeffries tube hatch leading to sickbay only a few centimeters, to make sure that the coast was clear. When she saw no one, she cautiously pushed it open further, and crawled out.

There was a sigh of relief from behind them, and the girls spun around to see the Doctor. Taylor, Charlie, and Naomi look relieved, but Rachel and Meredith tensed, while Rhanda put both her hands up in a defensive position.

"It's all right," Naomi reassured them, noticing their reactions, "He's with us."

Rhanda relaxed, but Rachel kept standing straight.

"Doctor, report," she said, making it obvious that she was now the leader of this miniature mutiny. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but took his cues from the others and did not protest.

"Security came in just a few seconds after you left. I got them to leave, but they're crawling all over the place, looking for you. Harry was brought in, too," he added, motioning to another biobed next to Tom and B'Elanna's

Rhanda gasped as she saw for the first time, the still figure of B'Elanna Torres, who was obviously unconscious.

"They think we did that?" she said sadly. Everyone looked at her, then at each other, but no one said anything. No one needed to. For everyone knew the terrible answer to her question.

* * *

Captain Janeway stood silently listening to Tuvok's report. You didn't have to know her well to realize that she was angry. Her face was cold and blank, but her eyes were flashing dangerously, and her mouth was a thin line.

". . .and they are eluding capture," Tuvok continued impassively, "Security found no trace of them in sickbay, the last known position of two of the girls."

Captain Janeway interrupted him, "Damn! Harry and I were talking about them in sickbay. They must have heard us and taken the comment I made about arresting them seriously. I meant only that I wanted to question them." She sighed, putting a hand to her head and tilting it towards the floor, "All right. What about the other three girls?"

"The other three girls were in holodeck one," Tuvok said without hesitation.

Captain Janeway looked up, "Were?"

"They were gone by the time security arrived. They left the holodeck running however. There was a karate simulation running. The only clue we found were six combadges."

Janeway frowned, "Two girls from sickbay, three girls from holodeck one. . .and six combadges?"

"That is correct. It appears the other two girls were able to meet up the three in holodeck one before they escaped together."

"Tuvok," Janeway said slowly, "There are only five girls. Who does the sixth combadge belong to?"

The look Tuvok gave her could have been called uneasy, if he weren't a Vulcan.

"We have concluded," said Tuvok, "that the sixth combadge belongs to Naomi Wildman."

Janeway felt a cold block of ice drop to the bottom of her stomach, and for a moment she stood numb, unmoving. Naomi. . . She snapped back to command mode.

"What would Naomi be doing with them?"

Tuvok met her gaze.

"Naomi has been spending a lot of time with the girls," Tuvok said, "It is possible that she does not know about Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry. She may be with them because she wants to be.

Janeway frowned and looked doubtful. Tuvok noticed this and supplied another possibility.

"Or," he said, "it is also possible that she is being held against her will. In shorter terms - kidnapped."

Anger pierced Janeway's usually calm interior, as she stood in silence, horrorstruck at what she was hearing.

Then, the blood-red light reflected dangerously against her eyes as she said in a dead-calm voice, "Red Alert."

* * *

_Author's Note: This is all the chapters for today. More chapters are to come. I will most likely do the chapters in sets. Five chapters at a time. Thank you for reading. Be patience in waiting for the next chapters._


	6. Author's Note

" **BIG AND SAD NEWS** -June 8, 2008- My laptop is dying. I'm sweeping at the thought of losing my beloved Roxy. She has been so good to me for the past six human years and the last 90 laptop years. Even at the end, she's trying to hold on a little longer for me. I'm in the process of moving documents from her to a flash drive. So that means my stories that I have been working so hard on might be put on hold till I can get a new laptop. I'm 400 dollars and a pro's opinion away from the goal. So be strong my readers. I'll try to update as soon as possible."

The above is of course in my profile. I'm always updating my profile with story ideas and such. I have a lot to say most of the time. I like to fit all my readers in on the little and big things going on in my writing. I'm so sorry about the slowness of my work lately. It's been crazy and busy. Now this. Forgive me my beloved readers. I'll do my best not to let you down.


	7. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 5 - Sickbay_

Back in sickbay, Rachel took command again.

"I assume that you all know what to do?" All she relieved were blank stares. She sighed. "As long as the Voyager crew thinks we're the culprits, the person who is guilty of knocking out Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry will think he's safe. Which means he will let down his guard long enough for us to find out who he is."

"Or she," Taylor interrupted.

"Or she," Rachel agreed.

It was starting to dawn on them what Rachel was talking about, but they waited for her to finish.

"We have one mission here people!" she snapped, sticking a finger in the air for emphasis, "We have to catch the culprit while eluding the Voyager security."

"Oh boy," Rhanda sighed.

"Well," Taylor said, attempting to lighten the mood, "Let's hope the culprit decides to knock out Tuvok next."

She was rewarded with stiff smiles all around accompanied by worried looks.

"Come on," Rachel said, heading for the door, "Let's go."

"Um. . .go where?" Rhanda said, looking worried. Rachel stared at her for a moment.

"Good point." She spun around to face the others. "Where are we going? We can't stay here," she added, frowning.

"Sickbay can be our base," Charlie said.

"Good idea, Doc. I mean. . . Charlie," she corrected quickly, and with a nervous glance toward the Doctor, she continued, "But we still don't know where we're going.

There was silence.

"I got it!" Meredith blurted suddenly. They all looked at her in surprise. She lowered her voice. "I have an idea! We can knock out. . ."

"Are you insane?" Taylor interrupted, "We can't knock out anyone! Haven't you been listening? That's what got us into this mess!"

"I'm not talking about knocking out a person!" Meredith said, glaring furiously at Taylor.

Taylor opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by the Doctor.

"Please!" he said exasperatedly, in a hushed voice, "Don't argue! And keep your voices down. The walls aren't soundproof you know!"

"The Doctors right," Rachel agreed, "Stop arguing. Meredith - your idea?"

"Okay. I thought that we could sabotage . . .," she said, looking pointedly at Taylor, ". . . the com system. If someone sees us, they won't be able to warn security."

A grin spread across Rachel's face. "Brilliant!" she gasped, "Absolutely. . ."

"Wonderful," Taylor said through clenched teeth.

Meredith, however, looked pleased at the attention.

"You'll definitely need help with that, though," Naomi offered.

The Doctor smiled, "I'll get the mobile emitter and we can leave."

Rachel's smile faltered.

"Doctor," she said, making him turn around, "It would be better if you stayed here."

"What?!" the Doctor objected, surprised and hurt, "but I can help you!"

"You can help more here! If you can revive Tom, Harry, or B'Elanna, they might be able to tell you who it was," she pointed out.

"I'll go," Naomi said, "My mom's an Ensign, I think I can figure out how to disable a com system."

The Doctor sighed but nodded. Then he frowned.

"If you confront Captain Janeway, I'm sure she would believe that you're innocent," he assured them.

Rachel's head snapped up to look at him. "No," she said firmly, "Even if they do believe us, they still wouldn't trust us. We want to earn their trust, and there's only one way to do that. We need to find the real culprit to clear our names."

"We want to be important for once," Naomi added.

"We want to help!" Rhanda finished.

The Doctor looked at their determined faces and sighed again, "Very well, but you'll definitely need some adult help. Luckily for you, I'm used to drastic situations. I could probably take out the com system in a matter of seconds."

"Nice try, Doctor," Taylor said, smiling, "But you're still staying."

"Come on!" Meredith said, while the Doctor looked miffed, "Let's go."

The girls hurried out of sickbay, Naomi in the lead. They half ran, half tiptoed down the corridor, stopping to peek cautiously around the corner. Luckily, they saw no one on the way to deck six, although they all jumped when the red alert sounded.

"Oh no," Rachel said, worriedly, "They must be taking action now. We have to hurry, or we'll never make it back to sickbay!"

Suddenly, Naomi stopped. Meredith, who was directly behind her, bumped into her.

"Ooof. . .Why'd you stop, Naomi?" she said, annoyed.

"We're here," Naomi replied vaguely.

The girls looked around. Finally, Rhanda spoke up.

"I don't see anything. Where's the control panel?"

In response, Naomi knelt down and removed a panel from the wall. Rhanda's eyes widened in surprise and she said, "OH!"

Then, in one quick movement, she knelt down next to Naomi and stared, enchanted at the bio-neural circuitry that pierced the inside of the wall. Taylor sighed.

"Move," she ordered. Everyone looked at her in surprise. She sighed again. "I'll show you how to knock out a system," she muttered grimly.

Rhanda and Naomi recognized danger and scrambled away from the opening. When Taylor was sure everyone was out of the way, she drew back her booted foot and slammed the sole of her shoe into the controls. The other girls watched in amazement as sparks flew out of the opening. Taylor threw her arms up to protect her face. Then it was over. The girls were left staring at the place where Taylor had kicked in awe.

The consol was blackened and still sparking intermittently. The gel pack had burst open and it's blue liquid splashed the floor and controls.

The girls looked, open mouthed, up at Taylor. She smirked, looking pleased with herself. Then suddenly, her expression changed as she stared over the other girls heads.

"Um. . . guys?" she muttered, her words almost incoherent.

Five sets of eyes widened as the other girls turned to see what she was looking at. Charlie took an involuntary step backward. Rhanda gasped. Meredith gulped. Rachel breathed, "Oh, no."

There, at the end of the corridor, seven faces glared furiously at them. Six security guards stood at attention, tall and threatening. . . and they were a accompanied by the most enraged Talaxian face any of them had ever seen.

"Neelix!" Naomi squeaked, shocked.

"Naomi!" her godfather shouted back at the top of his voice, "Don't worry! We're coming to get you!"

The six security guards pulled out hand phasers and pointed them in the direction of the girls, slowly moving forward. Their movements easily conveyed their message - don't do anything stupid. Rachel, Rhanda, and Taylor tensed. Naomi glanced at them, noticing their uneasiness.

"Don't worry," she assured them, "The phasers won't work from this distance."

"Right, which is why the guards are moving forward!" Rachel answered sarcastically. Suddenly, she frowned, thinking. Then her face registered comprehension.

"Naomi . . . I think that Neelix thinks we like, kidnapped you or something!" she said hastily, as the guards carefully advanced. They saw Neelix touch his chest.

"Neelix to bridge."

There was no response.

"Yes!" Charlie muttered softly, so Neelix and the guards couldn't hear, "It worked! Taylor, you're a genius!"

"Why, thank you. . .thank you very much," Taylor quoted. Then she switched back to her own voice, "but, let's save the compliments for later, shall we? Right now, there happen to be six security guards closing in on us!"

"What do we do?!" Naomi wailed.

"I have an idea!" Rachel spoke up quickly.

Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Rhanda asked, although she thought she already knew the answer.

There was a pause, then Rachel shouted the one word they had all been waiting for.

"RUN!!"

And with that, the girls turned around, and took off down the corridor, Neelix and the security guards in hot pursuit.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend. She now wishes I get credit to her with her pen name, Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy.


	8. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 2 - Mess Hall_

Captain Janeway stared sourly into the cooling black liquid in her cup, watching as the coffee grounds swirled round and round. As a result, she did not notice when Commander Chakotay walked up quietly behind her.

"Kathryn?"

She jumped at the sudden interruption.

Chakotay frowned, "Are you alright?"

Janeway sighed and relaxed again, gesturing to the chair opposite her.

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

Chakotay raised one eyebrow in imitation of Tuvok, making the corners of Janeway's mouth turn up a little.

"It's the girls," she admitted, suddenly uncomfortable.

Chakotay frowned, "What about them?"

"You know what the crew thinks, Chakotay."

Chakotay nodded.

"The girls are suspicious," she continued, "but all my instincts are telling me that it's not them."

This time Chakotay's eyebrows went up of their own accord. Still, Janeway pushed on.

"I know they have Naomi, and I know they're eluding security, but," she sighed, "Chakotay! They're only children! It's unrealistic for us to accuse them of anything. I seriously don't think that they have anything to with this mess. The crew is just being paranoid."

Chakotay looked a bit startled at this small outburst. "They did knock out the com system."

Janeway nodded, "Probably, but I just have this strong feeling that it's not them. I've already spoken to Tuvok, and he agrees with me. There are too many other possibilities. Alien intrusion, unknown phenomenon, or . . . a member of the crew. . ."

Her voice faded away, and she looked at Chakotay expectantly, waiting for his opinion. Chakotay knew she was hoping that he would agree with her. She didn't want to get into another fight. Their worst fight had been just a few months ago, when Captain Ransom and the Equinox crew came aboard. Chakotay realized that he _wasn't_ going to let it happen again.

"Alright," he said, smiling reassuringly, "I can see your point of view, and I agree."

As Chakotay spoke, Janeway relaxed and the tension in her face drained away. Then something close to apprehension flashed in her eyes.

"What is it?" Chakotay asked, immediately detecting the change in his best friend's face.

"I was speaking with the Doctor over the com, before communications went down. He told me that two other people had been taken in to sickbay, both drugged," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers, unsuccessfully trying to stop her ongoing headache.

"Who?" Chakotay asked, although he didn't really want to know.

Janeway sighed, "Lt. Lyssa Cambell from transporter and Lt. Michael Alaya from security."

"How are B'Elanna, Tom, and Harry?" Chakotay said, looking down at the table.

"No change," Janeway murmured softly.

Chakotay looked up just as Janeway stifled a yawn, and suddenly noticed how tired his friend looked. "Kathryn, you need rest," he said, knowing full well she would reject the idea. He wasn't disappointed.

"What are you talking about?" Janeway said, jokingly raising her mug, "I've got coffee!"

Chakotay smiled, "All right, you win, but don't blame me if you fall asleep on the bridge! Anyway, about the girls. I think it is possible that they did knock out the com system, but if they didn't, well, then we have a problem."

"Uh huh."

Chakotay continued, "Because that means that whoever did it has a humanoid form. Internal sensors haven't picked up any alien life forms, either, so I - ," suddenly, Chakotay realized that Janeway wasn't listening to him. He smiled. "You know, Tuvok has really been getting on my nerves recently. I'm going to throw him out an airlock, okay?"

"That's fine," Janeway mumbled absentmindedly. Then she started as Chakotay started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" she asked, surprised.

"You!" he smiled, "You just gave me permission to throw Tuvok overboard!"

Janeway smiled, "I guess I'm more tired then I thought."

"Go rest," her first officer suggested, "unless you want me to tell the Doctor?

"All right, all right I'm going! No need to use threats!" Janeway laughed. Then she suddenly became serious again, "I'm not the only one who has been up for the last twenty-four hours, Chakotay. You should get some sleep, too."

"Nah," Chakotay said, "I'm not that tired. Besides, who's going to watch your ship while Tuvok is floating in space?"

They laughed. Then Janeway's eyebrows lifted as Chakotay yawned.

He smiled. "Okay, okay, I'll get some rest, too," he paused, then said, "I'll walk you back to your quarters?"

Janeway smiled, "All right, let's go."

As they walked out, they failed to notice a figure sitting in a darkened corner. The cool, piercing gaze of Seven of Nine followed them as they left the mess hall.

x

"There's no way we're going to be able to outrun them!" Meredith huffed as they sprinted down the corridor, helping Naomi to keep up.

Security was gaining with every futile step they took. They would undoubtedly catch them within a few minutes.

"They have Starfleet training, we don't," Rhanda added, breathing hard.

"Well then, do something!" Taylor yelled.

Suddenly, two large doors caught Rhanda's eye. It was holodeck 2, the place where Tom Paris had been knocked out. Rhanda felt a light snap on in her head. She had a plan.

"Quick!" she shouted, pulling on Rachel's arm, "Follow me!"

And, without a second thought, the girls followed Rhanda, running through the doors of holodeck 2, the scene of the crime of the assault . . . the assault that they had been accused of committing.

x

Seven of Nine's alcove clicked, as she stepped into place to begin her regeneration cycle. She closed her eyes and let darkness take over.

Seven was suddenly standing in the countryside, at dusk, clearly after a long rain.

In her sleep, Seven groaned, and her eyes moved quickly beneath her eyelids. Even in unconsciousness, she could feel that something was wrong. The place felt familiar, yet she has never been there before.

Seven heard a noise behind her and she turned around. She inhaled quickly when she saw who it was. It was Tom Paris.

He was on the ground, arms spread-eagled. He was hurt, blood trickling down his face, and his eyes were wide with terror. He stared up at Seven.

Seven knelt next to him. Then she jumped as he addressed her.

"Seven. . . why did you do this?"

Seven sucked in her breath, "I did nothing."

Paris's glare turned accusing. "Yes. Yes you did. You did this! Why Seven?"

"I . . . I have no recollection of harming you," Seven stammered, looking uneasy.

"But you did," he said, not accusing anymore, just stating facts, "You did whether you remember or not."

"This is not possible!" Seven said angrily.

"Oh it's possible," said a voice from behind.

Seven turned to see B'Elanna, Harry, Lt. Lyssa Campbell, and Lt. Michael Ayala hovering above her. They were all injured, although not as severely as Paris. Seven frowned.

"What happened to all of you?" she asked.

"You happened to all of us, Seven," B'Elanna snarled. Seven frowned, causing B'Elanna to say, "Here, let me spell it out for you! You drugged us. You attacked Tom, Harry, Lyssa, Michael, and I! It was you."

Paris stood up to join the others. The five in front of Seven glared at her.

"No," Seven whispered, "no, you can't be here. . . all of you are in sickbay."

"In sickbay because of you!" Harry growled.

Seven ignored him. "This isn't real; this is a dream. I don't have to listen to you!"

B'Elanna stepped forward and grabbed Seven's forearm.

"You're wrong Seven. Dead wrong. You do have to listen to us. You're conscience won't allow otherwise. And," she added, "This is more than just a dream. Much more."

The last things Seven saw before everything went black, were her friend's bruised and bloodied faces. . .

And the accusing glares that said, "This is all your fault."

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend. She now wishes I get credit to her with her pen name, Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy.


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 6 - Holodeck 2_

The girls piled into the holodeck, and the large doors slid closed behind them.

"Computer, seal the doors!" Rachel shouted.

The girls heard the metallic click of the locking mechanism as it slid into place, firmly locking the doors.

"Well, that will give us a few more . . . uh, _seconds_!" Taylor said sarcastically.

"Where are we?" Naomi said in a hushed voice, turning in a complete circle to take in their surroundings.

They were standing in the countryside, at dusk, clearly after a long rain. The light from the setting sun created blood-red dancing pictures on the nearby trees. A soft wind ruffled through the girls' hair, moaning and making goosebumps appear on their arms. All the girls except Taylor shivered.

"Come on!" Taylor snapped, "We don't have time to look at scenery!"

Rhanda felt with her hands until she found the wall. She latched her fingers on the Jeffries tube hatch. She opened it, and noticed how strange it looked for a gray tunnel to be basically floating in mid-air.

"Over here!" she yelled to the others.

"Good! A Jeffries tub," Meredith said, hurrying over to Rhanda, "Let's get out of here; this place gives me the creeps!"

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, "Tom Paris was knocked out in this holodeck. This is probably the program that was on."

"Come on!" Naomi cried from inside the Jeffries tube, "Security, remember!"

Charlie, Meredith, and Taylor clamber in. Then Rhanda got in but poked her head back out to star at Rachel, who had taken a panel off a tree and was pressing the futuristic looking buttons.

"Rachel!" Rhanda hissed, "Come on!"

"Hold on!" Rachel said hurriedly, "Tom Paris showed me how to do this before he was knocked out. It'll take security off our tail long enough for us to get away!"

"Start crawling!" Rhanda shouted over her shoulder, "We'll be right there."

Suddenly, a loud thud resonated through the holodeck. Both girls froze. It was followed by two more thuds, a curse, and an exclamation of "It's locked!"

Rhanda and Rachel looked at each other in horror. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had made those sounds. Obviously, security had found the locked holodeck doors.

Rachel spun back toward the control panel, hit a button, then turned and ran for the Jeffries tube, and safety. The minute Rachel was in, Rhanda slammed the hatch shut.

But, the few seconds that Rachel took to climb into the Jeffries tube gave Rhanda enough time to see six holographic characters shimmer into existence.

x

Rhanda and Rachel finally caught up with the others, and all six of them began crawling as fast as they could away from holodeck two.

"What were those?" Rhanda exclaimed, when they were a safe distance away. There was no evidence of a pursuit.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Those . . . those . . .," Rhanda stuttered, "you know, the holograms!"

"Oh!" Rachel looked pleased with herself. "I programmed the computer to make a holographic representation of each of us, so when security comes in . . ."

"They'll be talking to the wrong people!" Naomi finished excitedly, "Brilliant, Rachel!"

Rachel grinned. "Thanks! In fact, about now, they will be trying to take the holograms out of the holodeck - and of course the holograms will disappear as soon as they step over the threshold!"

The girls reached the sickbay hatch and pushed it open. They tumbled out of the Jeffries tube and were immediately helped up by the Doctor, who was looking very worried.

"What happened? Did you get caught? You must have succeeded - the com system is out!" he babbled.

Rachel smiled, "Yes, Doctor, our mission was a success." She frowned. "That was much too close for comfort, though."

"What? What happened?" the Doctor said immediately.

"Neelix and six security guards caught us knocking out the com system," Naomi piped up.

"We ran into the holodeck to escape them," Meredith continued.

"That was Rhanda's idea," Rachel added.

"I'm assuming you got away?" the Doctor joked.

"Barely," Rhanda said seriously, finishing the story, "Rachel created holograms of us to trick them."

"Hey! That was a good idea," Charlie pointed out, "Where'd you learn it?"

"Well," Rachel said, "I learned to use the holographic system two days ago - Tom Paris showed me. But, the actual idea to create holographic versions of us? Well, I got that from the Doctor."

The Doctor's eyebrows went up in surprise, "Me?" He recovered quickly. "I mean, that's understandable. I do come up with some pretty brilliant ideas, don't I?"

Rachel ignored him and turned to the other girls, "He used that concept to get away from Tuvok in the episode, 'Renaissance Man'."

"Of course!" Charlie exclaimed, "You mean when . . ." Taylor slapped her hand over Charlie's mouth.

The Doctor looked from one girl to another before mumbling, "I won't ask."

"Good," Rachel said dryly, "Don't."

"Frankly," Rhanda said, changing the subject, "I'm surprised the whole com system can be knocked out just by disabling one section in the bulkhead."

"It can't," the Doctor confirmed, "but, thanks to my vast knowledge of the ships systems . . ." He chuckled, "I managed to reroute the power from the com system all into the consol that you, um, obliterated, enabling you to deactivate the children, it would take several hours for you to understand it all. So I won't explain it. But your success would be all thanks to me." The Doctor smiled, pleased with himself.

You could almost hear Taylor grinding her teeth throughout the Doctor's speech, and when he called the girls 'children', she sputtered and looked furious. The girls, unlike the Doctor, noticed this, and pulled Taylor away from him as fast as possible. They huddled into a circle, leaving a very disgruntled doctor on the other side of the room.

"Well! I'm not surprised!" he said, annoyed, "There's still no one on this ship who appreciates my genius!"

x

Across the room, Taylor was still busy grumbling.

"Children! CHILDREN! We are NOT children!!" she growled, "He's younger than us, for Pete's sake!"

"Of course he's younger than you!" Naomi said smiling, "Everyone on this ship is younger than you. You were born 350 years ago!"

Taylor opened her mouth to retort, but Rachel held up a hand.

"Guys, guys. Let's just forget about the Doctor for a moment, all right!" she ordered. The girls nodded in agreement.

"Okay," she went on, "We knocked out the com system. I'd say we only have about an hour, maybe two, to do whatever we have to do before the repair crews fix it. Frankly, we need a plan."

The other girls looked down, thinking hard. Finally, Charlie shook her head.

"Okay, no plan," Rachel said, "We'll come back to the later. Now, who is the culprit?"

This time, she got a reply.

"The Doctor!" Taylor said enthusiastically. Five faces turned to her with arched eyebrows and looks of disbelief. She sighed. "Okay, maybe not."

"Neelix?" Rhanda suggested.

"No!" Naomi countered, "You saw how he reacted to seeing us!"

"Um, Tuvok?" Rachel put out.

"Doubtful," Taylor answered, "Janeway?"

"If it's her, than I'm a hologram!" Rachel shot back.

"Oooo, good one!" Rhanda grinned.

"Thanks! Chakotay?"

"Yeah, right," Meredith filled.

Charlie spoke up in a quiet voice, "What about Seven?"

There was silence. Then Naomi sad worriedly, "No! Seven wouldn't do it! We're her friends. What if the culprit isn't in the senior staff?"

The girls looked at each other in dismay, Naomi's words ringing out loud and clear. _What if the culprit isn't in the senior staff? _They would never figure out who did it if that was the case. They would have to catch the person red-handed.

"Okay, let's put two and two together now," Rachel pondered, "the people who have been knocked out are the Chief Engineer, Chief Pilot, Chief of Operations, Chief Transporter, and the first hand of the Chief of Security. The only department that hasn't been touched is here, the medical department."

"Wait!" Charlie exclaimed, "It has!"

Everyone looked at her, surprised at her uncharacteristic outburst.

"Tom Paris! Tom is also the person who helps the Doctor. He's like the nurse! It was two hits with one shot when they knocked out Tom."

"No wonder he was first," Rachel added softly.

"So, if all the departments have been hurt, who is the attacker going to go after next?" Naomi asked.

"There's only one answer," Rhanda said, looking sick.

The girls looked at each other in horror as Rachel said what they were all thinking.

"Captain Janeway."

Rachel turned around and walked to the other side of sickbay, "Doctor, how are you doing on the patients?"

The Doctor turned around, "Ah! So you finally decided to acknowledge my presence."

"We're sorry Doctor," Rhanda apologized.

The Doctor nodded at her, accepting the apology, and got on with his report, "I found a cure. But it will take at least two hours for it to be ready."

"Good work, Doctor!" Rachel said.

Rhanda looked relieved, "That's great! So B'Elanna going to be better soon?"

"Actually," the Doctor answered, "She's probably going to be the first to wake up. Her Klingon DNA is more resistant than human DNA."

"Wait a second! Backtrack, Doctor," Rachel said, cutting in, "Did you say . . . it will take two hours before the cure works?"

The Doctor nodded.

Rachel groaned, "The com system will be working again by then! We could be in the brig! Do you know how many attacks could happen by then?! Captain Janeway could die!"

"Captain Janeway?" the Doctor exclaimed, "What's she got to do with anything?"

"Everything, Doctor," Rachel replied, "We think she's the attacker's next victim."

"What!" the Doctor yelped, "We've got to do something!"

"What? What can we do?" Rachel sighed dejectedly, "We need a plan."

Taylor stepped forward and finally spoke up, "Good. Because I've got one."

x

"All right, Taylor," Rachel said, placing her hand on the biobed with a thump, "What's the plan? Let's hear it."

"Well," Taylor began, "We don't know who the culprit is, but we do think that the next victim is going to be Captain Janeway. Correct?"

The girls and the Doctor nodded, so she continued.

"We decided that the only way to find the culprit is to catch him or her red-handed, so . . . we have to find Captain Janeway."

There was silence. Then Rachel snorted, "That's so obvious! Why didn't we think of that before?"

"Way to go Taylor!" Rhanda complimented. Taylor grinned.

"I'm guessing I don't get to tag along?" the Doctor said dryly.

"Sorry, Doctor," Rachel agreed, "but you're needed here. You still have patients to tend to."

With a last glance at the Doctor, the girls headed out of sickbay. They walked in silence until they passed through the doors of sickbay and into the dark corridor, which brightened every few seconds with a flash of red.

As soon as the sickbay door closed behind them, Taylor grinned. She rubbed her chin and said with an English accent, "The game is afoot!"

Rhanda rolled her eyes, "She playing Sherlock Holmes again."

"Who?" Naomi said, looking confused.

Taylor beamed, "Elementary, my dear Wildman!"

Naomi arched an eyebrow and gave Taylor a look that said, "I beg your pardon?"

Rachel laughed, "Naomi, you've been hanging around Tuvok too much. We'll explain the Sherlock Holmes thing later. Right now, we've got work to do."

"Computer, locate Captain Janeway."

x

Seven of Nine's alcove beeped as she opened her eyes and stepped out of it.

"Regeneration cycle incomplete," the computer droned.

Seven ignored it, busy pondering what to do about her strange dream. She knew that Naomi Wildman would have called it a nightmare. Tuvok would tell her that she was having an "emotional response to trying circumstances". The Doctor would run scans and tell her to drink more fluids.

Suddenly, Seven realized that there were fragments of her memory missing. Just a few minutes here and there, over the last 24 hours, but they were missing. Maybe the dream was telling her the truth.

At the same time, she comprehended something else. Captain Janeway would listen to her. She needed to tell Captain Janeway before any more of her friends were hurt. Making up her mind, she headed out of the cargo bay.

"Computer, locate Captain Janeway."

x

Commander Chakotay tossed in his sleep.

"Leave!" his sleeping mind shouted, "I won't do it! I don't want you here! Get out!"

"Focus on the task at hand!" a feminine voice hissed fiercely, "You have a mission!"

Chakotay growled, "No! I won't help you." But it was useless. The alien woman had him pinned against the wall.

The woman was of a species he had never seen before. Raven black hair traveled down past her waist, tied together in three places with silver ribbons.

Her eyes were green, dark green, with a thin silver strip outlining the pupil.

She was humanoid, and her body was the familiar shape of a human female. He was amazed at the amount of strength this woman possessed. She could not have been much bigger than Captain Janeway, but he could not break free of her grasp, despite her petite form.

Her pointed ears and calm demeanor almost led Chakotay to believe she was Vulcan, had it not been for the way in which she spoke.

"If you do not do it of your own free will, I will be forced to do it for you. It would be much easier for both of us if you chose the former."

Somehow, Chakotay knew what she wanted.

"I won't harm my friend!" he snarled.

"She knows too much!" the woman snapped back.

"I won't," Chakotay said firmly, in a low, dangerous voice.

"Very well, your choice," the woman said.

Suddenly, both of Chakotay's hands were chained to the wall behind him.

"What the. . .? Let me go!" he shouted, pulling at the chains. Then he saw something that made his hopes lift. Earth's moon was floating behind her. It was a sign. And Chakotay knew what that sign meant.

"This is a dream. You're not real!"

"I'm as real as you are, Chakotay," the woman said, turning to leave, "Oh! And," she added, turning back to face him, "This is more than just a dream. Much more."

_What was going on?_ Chakotay was frantic. _Why couldn't he wake up? Why couldn't he break free?_ But it was no use. The alien woman walked away, leaving Commander Chakotay chained to the wall, hopelessly trapped within his own mind.

And, back on Voyager, in the first officer's quarters, in the first officer's bed, someone awoke. Someone with green eyes, dark green, with a thin silver strip outlining the pupil. Someone with and evil smile, and an even eviler agenda. Someone who definitely _wasn't_ the first officer.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy.


	10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 3 - Corridor_

Naomi, Rachel, Rhanda, Meredith, Taylor, and Charlie hurried down the corridor, heading by quickest route to Captain Janeway's quarters. Naomi was in the lead.

"We've got to hurry," Rachel huffed, half-running, half-walking, "This could blow up in our faces at any time!"

Suddenly, they heard a voice from behind them. The girls stopped short.

"You mean like now?" Taylor muttered, as the girls turned to face the newcomer. Seven of Nine was walking briskly toward them. She stopped in front of them, glanced at the other girls, and then focused her attentions on Naomi.

"Naomi Wildman," she stated, "The Voyager crew is worried about you. Neelix is presently comforting your mother in the mess hall."

"I'm sorry," Naomi said promptly, "but I had to help my friends. They're innocent!"

Seven looked guiltily away from Naomi's gaze. "I know."

"What do you mean Seven? How can you know?" Naomi asked wide-eyed.

"I do not believe the girls are responsible," Seven responded sharply, "Now, I must leave."

"Where are you going?" Naomi asked innocently.

"I must see Captain Janeway. The matter is urgent. I am on my way to her quarters. I would advise against the six of you roaming the corridors while the crew is walking the same corridors trying to catch you." Seven then turned on her heel and continued past them without waiting for an answer.

The girls turned to each other with horror filled expressions.

"It is Seven," Meredith said sadly.

"No!" Naomi was still adamant, "I don't think it was Seven."

"How can you not!" Taylor asked incredulously, "Look at the evidence! She doesn't think it's us, she looks guilty, and she's heading to Captain Janeway's quarters!"

"That doesn't mean she's been attacking crew members!" Naomi defended.

"But is does mean," Rachel said, interrupting before Taylor could answer, "that our prime suspect is heading toward Captain Janeway, and we have a duty to this ship and this crew to protect her."

The other girls nodded, and Naomi suddenly got a determined look on her face.

"We can't let Seven get there before us. We have to warn Captain Janeway!" Rhanda said worriedly.

"Right," Rachel agreed. She turned to Naomi, "Is there a quicker route?"

Naomi shook her head, "No, Seven took the 'most efficient' way, of course. But there is another route only slightly longer and we'll arrive at almost the same time as Seven."

Rachel nodded her head, "Lead on."

The girls started their run again.

"When we get there, we can't let Seven see, us," Rachel explained.

"How much farther is it?" Meredith huffed.

"Just around that corner," Naomi replied, pointing a few feet in front of them.

Rachel rounded the corner first, but then she stopped short and quickly backtracked. Taylor bumped into Rachel. Naomi tripped into Taylor. Rhanda stumbled into Naomi. Meredith collided with Rhanda, and Charlie finished the train wreck by crashing into Meredith.

"Ooof!"

"Ouch!"

"Ugh!"

"Watch it!"

"Naomi, get your foot out of my face!"

"Guys, be quiet!" Rachel hissed.

She stuck her head back around the corner while her friends crowded around behind her.

"What's going on?" Rhanda whispered.

"Seven is standing in front of Captain Janeway's door," Rachel whispered back.

"Doing what?" Charlie asked quietly.

"Just standing," Rachel replied, "She's close to the door, doing nothing but standing!"

"Nothing else?!" Naomi said, looking disbelieving.

"Well, she's frowning," Rachel answered, "But it doesn't look like she's going in. We have to find a way to get into Captain Janeway's quarters without her seeing us."

"There are always transporters," Rhanda suggested.

"No," Rachel said, immediately dismissing the idea, "They can detect an unauthorized transport into Captain Janeway's quarters. Then we'd really get it."

"Why don't we just take the Jefferies Tubes?" Charlie asked softly.

"There are Jefferies Tubes leading into Captain Janeway's quarters?!" Meredith asked in disbelief.

"Meredith, there are Jeffries Tubes leading everywhere," Rachel told her. She looked at Naomi for confirmation. Naomi nodded.

"It's settled then," Rachel continued, "Okay, Jefferies Tubes it is. Look out Captain Janeway, here we come."

x

Kathryn Janeway's eyes flew open as she was suddenly awoken from a deep sleep, an ominous feeling creeping over her. She didn't move, not even to call for lights. All of her instincts were telling her that something was terribly wrong, and after six years in the Delta Quadrant, she had learned to listen to her instincts. But it took her a few minutes to realize what they were telling her. And when she figured it out, she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

Someone was in her quarters.

Keeping her breathing calm and even, as though she was still asleep, Janeway slowly opened her eyes into thin slits. It took them a few seconds to adjust to the dark room. Then she caught sight of a shadowed figure, barely distinguishable from the small amount of light produced by the stationary stars outside her window.

She believed now more than ever that the girls had been completely innocent of any wrongdoing. She wanted to put more thought into the subject, but somewhere in her head something was telling her to concentrate on the immediate problem.

Her hand slowly snaked out from under the covers, reaching for her combadge and phaser, both which she kept on her bedside table. Her fingers closed on the curved surface of the phaser just as the figure moved forward.

In one swift movement, she pushed back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, pointing the phaser in the direction of the figure. It froze. Janeway gently squeezed the combadge that was trapped between the fingers of her other hand, bringing it close to her mouth. She held the phaser steady.

"Janeway to security," she said softly, as if speaking loudly would make the figure move, "Intruder alert."

Silence. The com system was still down.

She watched silently as the figure obviously realized this. It was still, then slowly moved out of the shadows.

Janeway gasped as she recognized the familiar face and form - of her first officer.

"Chakotay!" She lowered the phaser, putting it back down on the bedside table. "What's going on?" she asked trustingly. Then on second thought, she added, "And what are you doing in my quarters?"

Chakotay smiled at her. "The com system in down," he pointed out unnecessarily.

"So I've noticed," Janeway slowly, confused as to why her friend was acting so strangely.

"Convenient, isn't it?" he chuckled softly, "I'll have to remember to thank those girls for that. And your security - following them all over the place. It makes things much easier for me."

"What?!" Janeway gasped, sure she had misunderstood somehow, "You? No - Chakotay, tell me what's going on!"

Suddenly, Chakotay moved forward, and the next second, Janeway's hands were being crushed between her back and the wall, Chakotay holding a hypospray to her neck, his eyes burning into hers.

And that was when she realized.

Chakotay was glaring at her, not with brown, but through green eyes, dark green, with a thin silver strip outlining the pupil. It was at that moment when she knew that the man standing in front of her was not Commander Chakotay.

"You want to know what's going on?" he hissed, "I'll tell you what's going on. In less then a minute, you, Captain Kathryn Janeway, will be joining your friends in sickbay and I will be in command of Voyager. I planted a dream in Seven of Nine's head, and successfully convinced her that she was the one attacking her friends. After she turns herself in, Tuvok will place her in the brig, and no one will have any reason to stop me as I bring Voyager around to explore a 'seemingly harmless nebula'."

Janeway gaped at him. She didn't have to hear it to realize what could happen to her ship and crew if he succeeded. He decided to tell her anyway.

"Your ship will be quite a sight when my fleet is through with it. Too bad you won't be around to watch." His green eyes seemed to cut right through her, probing and waiting for a reaction.

Her own eyes narrowed as her protective instincts kicked in. "If you think I'm going to stand by and watch as you destroy my ship and . . ."

He cut her off. "Who said anything about destroying your ship? I intend to make good use of it - and your crew."

Janeway said a line she had said to multiple aliens - she just never thought she'd have to say it to her first officer. "Threats will get you no where."

Chakotay looked thoughtful, "You're right. They won't - but this will." He raised the hypospray.

"Wait!" Janeway knew that the only way out of this was to talk her way out. She knew how to fight her way out of crisis situation, of course, but Chakotay was much stronger, and she couldn't do anything while there was a hypospray two centimeters from her neck. She would just have to stall and wait for the right opportunity.

x

Bang!

"OUCH!" The exclaimation echoed down the Jeffries tube. We all stopped crawling.

"Who was that?"

"Are you okay?"

"Ugh, that hurt," came Meredith's voice, "I banged my head on the ceiling."

"Typical Meredith," Taylor muttered under her breath, as we started moving again.

"Hey!" Meredith said, turning toward the sound of Taylor's voice, squinting to see her outline in the dark Jeffries Tube, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Taylor's temper flared. "It means we'd already be there by now if you weren't so slow!"

"I wouldn't be going so slowly if you weren't acting like Seven of Nine all the time!" Meredith said hotly, "I'll go at my own pace! And stop telling me what to do."

"Well, someone's got to do it!" Taylor snapped back, "The slower you go, the longer it takes us to get there. And it's not bad to act like Seven of Nine. At least she's efficient. Much better than Neelix, anyway," she finished in a mumble.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Meredith sputtered, "Neelix is better than Seven of Nine. Especially at cooking."

"Trust me," Taylor said in a sharp tone, "If Seven of Nine cooked, she'd be much better than Neelix."

"I don't think so!" Meredith said loudly, completely offended, "I didn't see you complaining when you were stuffing your face with food in the mess hall!"

"Oooh," Rhanda jumped in.

"That's gotta hurt," Charlie added, as Taylor and Meredith continued exchanging insults.

"Guys," Rachel sighed, "Don't start commentating this."

"Yeah, we don't need commentary!" Meredith said hotly, "Because we already know that Neelix is better than Seven anyday!"

Everybody decided to respond to this outburst at once.

"That's not true!"

"The Doctor's the best!"

"Yeah!"

"No, no, B'Elanna is - she's Klingon!"

"Nope, it's Janeway!"

"No way, it's Harry Kim!"

"No, he's just hot."

"I still think the Doctor's the best."

"We know you do, Charlie, but he sings too loud."

"Hey!"

"What?"

"I sing loud!"

"He sings louder."

"Actually. . ."

"Stop it!"

The erratic and loud conversation jolted to a halt as Naomi spoke up for the first time in a long while.

"Stop talking about the people on this ship like they're characters on a television show! They're people. No one is better than anyone else - we are all equal!"

There was a silence in the Jeffries tube for ten long seconds as everyone digested the truth of this statement. Then Rachel spoke up, softly. "You're right, Naomi, of course. I don't know why we just did that. It shouldn't have happened. Especially at a time like this. People are in danger. We need to get going."

The girls nodded automatically, and even though Rachel couldn't see them in the dark she felt their approval.

Naomi was still slightly in front of the other girls and Rachel nodded to her, "Naomi, lead the way."

It took them only a few more minutes to reach their destination, and Rachel found herself fervently hoping that the sound of their voices hadn't carried through the wall.

The girls sat down in front of the Jeffries Tube hatch that led out into Captain Janeway's quarters. Rachel pressed her ear to the cool bulkhead.

"Rachel?" Rhanda whispered, "Um, what are you doing?"

"Shh!" she whispered, "I'm listening."

Quickly, the other girls followed her example and pressed their ears to the wall, listening intently. The sound of voices filtered through the bulkhead. Two people were obviously having an argument.

_"If you don't comply to my demands. . ."_

_"I don't respond well to threats."_

"That's Captain Janeway!" Naomi whispered.

"And - Commander Chakotay? What's he doing in there?" Rachel said, thinking out loud.

Rhanda was still listening intently to their conversation. "He wants something."

"No duh," Taylor whispered, "But why is he in Captain Janeway's quarters?" "This sounds like a conversation they would have in the ready room."

"Guys!" Rachel whispered loudly, "I just realized something. Remember how I said that Seven of Nine was standing by the door not doing anything? Well, maybe she was doing something. Maybe she was listening!"

Charlie spoke up, "Yeah! She wouldn't need to put her ear to the door because of her Borg hearing."

"So, she's listening to the Captain and Commander's conversation," Meredith said suspiciously.

"Yeah, kinda like we are," Taylor pointed out.

Rhanda gasped suddenly, and everyone looked in her direction. Her ear was still pressed against the wall.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"The Commander just did something very strange," Rhanda stuttered, unable to finish her sentence. The other girls gathered around Rhanda and pressed their ears to the wall again.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"He said, 'or I won't release your first officer."

"What?" Rachel repeated.

"But he is the first officer," Charlie said, confused, "that doesn't make any sense!"

Rachel listened to the bits of conversation filtering through the wall. "Something strange is going on here," she said softly.

"Yeah," Meredith agreed, "What's the Captain talking about?"

"She's stalling," Naomi piped up.

"What's stalling?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Stalling for time," Rachel answered, "It's saying things you don't really need to waste time, usually when you're waiting for help to arrive."

"How do you know?" Meredith said, frowning.

"Nancy Drew," Rachel answered nonchalantly.

"Who?" Naomi asked, again befundled by another favorite 20th century detective.

"Never mind," Rachel said quickly, "Rhanda, what's going on?"

"Well," said Rhanda, who was the only one who hadn't taken her ear from the wall, "the Captain is pretty good at stalling, if you ask me. She's keeping Commander Chakotay busy - for now."

Naomi sounded upset, "But Commander Chakotay would never hurt the Captain - never!"

"I don't think that's Commander Chakotay," Rachel said, igniting startled gasps from her friends. "I mean think about it. Is that guy acting like Commander Chakotay?"

"Well we can't just sit here!" Rhanda said, "We have to do something!"

"But what if we're wrong? What if it is Commander Chakotay? What if there is no emergency?" Naomi said worriedly.

"What if there is?" Rachel shot back.

Rhanda spoke up, "He could hurt Captain Janeway!"

"Or worse," Meredith added, "he could relieve her of command!"

"What?" Naomi said, confused.

"Meredith!" Taylor groaned, "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, sorry!" Meredith said, "Next time I'll just team up with Seven of Nine instead of you!"

"Guys!" Rachel snapped, before they could start arguing again,"Forget about Seven of Nine! We have to help Captain Janeway! I agree with Rhanda - we can't just sit here. I, for one, am going in there! Who's with me?"

"I am!" Rhanda said immediately.

"Me too!" Naomi agreed.

"Me three!" Meredith and Charlie said together.

Everyone looked at Taylor.

"Count me in," she sighed.

"All right!" Rachel said sounding determined, "Let's do it!"

So, with hopes high and hearts pounding, Naomi, Rachel, Rhanda, Meredith, Taylor, and Charlie plunged through the hatch and into Captain Janeway's quarters, ready and willing to face the unknown.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy.


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 2 - Messhall_

Neelix bustled around his kitchen, moving pots and pans around in a huff. A timer went off, and he turned too quickly, knocking over several plates in the process. By the time he'd picked those up and turned back to the stove, his Pleemok soup had overflowed, coated the counter and half of the utensils, and spilled onto the floor.

Neelix finally threw his hands up into the air and collapsed against the wall, looking around at the huge mess that had taken over his kitchen. He sighed. Normally, his personality and duties as ship's morale officer made him a very optimistic and happy person. But today all he could see was Pleemok stew all over his kitchen floor. He watched it drip off the counter.

Plunk. He wondered where Naomi was, and whether she was scared.

Plunk. He had wanted to help security find Naomi, but after their first failed attempt, and dinner soon in coming, he had gone back to the Mess Hall.

Plunk. He was sure that the crew was doing their best, but cooking while his goddaughter was in danger was bothering him more than he wanted to admit.

Plunk. He hated that feeling of uselessness.

Plunk. He wanted to know how the Doctor was doing on a cure. He was worried about Tom and B'Elanna and Harry.

Plunk. His kitchen was a mess.

Plunk. Plomeek soup was on his floor. Food and dirty dishes were everywhere.

Plunk. What would Kes think of him, sitting here feeling sorry for himself?

Neelix froze. Kes. Why had he suddenly thought of her? Kes had left almost three years ago. Kes. He missed her. Determined that Kes would never want him to sit around doing nothing, Neelix got up, and started to clean his kitchen. Down on his knees, getting ready to wipe up soup, he jolted as a thought struck him.

Kes would want him to do something.

Determined, Neelix stood. Naomi was his goddaughter, and he had to do something. Rolling up his sleeves, Neelix strode out of the Mess Hall with one thought in mind. Help Naomi.

Behind him, the Pleemok soup dripped . . .

x

Naomi hit the floor of what was obviously Captain Janeway's living room with an almost undetectable thud. Rhanda immediately helped her up as Rachel crawled into the room and softly closed the hatch behind them. Putting a finger to her lips, Rachel motioned for the other girls to follow her. Naomi obediently fell behind her, concentrating on trying to walk silently, like Tuvok did. Meanwhile, the voices of Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were becoming louder the closer they got, and it was obvious that they were in the next room.

Rachel stopped just before the doorway to the bedroom, and the girls crowded around behind her. It reminded Naomi ominously of the position they had been in in the corridor. She hoped they wouldn't fall over again. Commander Chakotay didn't seem to be aware of their presence at the moment, and Naomi had a feeling it would be better to keep it that way.

Silently, she crept up next to Rachel and cautiously poked her head into the other room. She almost gasped. Commander Chakotay had Captain Janeway pinned to the wall. Captain Janeway was talking. Naomi tried to listen in to their conversation, but their voices seemed distant as something more interesting caught her eye.

That something was a phaser.

The voices suddenly came back in tune. Commander Chakotay was talking. Naomi looked over at him, a plan forming in her head. If she could just run and grab the phaser . . .

At that moment, Captain Janeway looked up. Her blue eyes locked with Naomi's. Naomi froze half-way around the doorframe. She focused on Captain Janeway's face. Time seemed to slow. Her own heart beat was so loud, she was sure that everyone else could hear it. Janeway's head moved back and forth, ever so slightly, her eyes still boring into Naomi's. It was a very small movement, but Naomi saw it. And she knew what it meant. Captain Janeway didn't want her to go after the phaser.

Time flowed back into the room. Captain Janeway diverted her attention back to Commander Chakotay. Naomi felt a sudden pull on the back of her shirt and tumbled back into Rachel as she was pulled into the other room.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rachel hissed, "Commander Chakotay catching us won't help Captain Janeway!"

That's why the Captain didn't want me to go after the phaser, Naomi thought, she didn't want me to get caught.

The other girls were looking at her. She motioned for them to gather round.

"There's a phaser on the bedside table," Naomi whispered.

Rachel's eyebrows shot up.

"Good work," she said, sounding surprised but pleased.

Naomi nodded, but didn't stop. "Captain Janeway knows we're here."

"What!" Taylor frowned, "But . . ."

"She saw me," Naomi cut in, "But Commander Chakotay didn't. He was facing away from me - he had Captain Janeway pinned against the wall."

"We have to do something," Rachel said.

"Obviously," Taylor answered.

"Guys, I think it's time to get some help," Rachel said softly, "We can't do this by ourselves."

"I can," Taylor growled, balling a fist.

Naomi had a sudden mental image of Commander Chakotay flying through the Captain's living room window. She shook her head, "I think we'd better let Tuvok handle the situation."

"Yeah," Taylor hissed, "And by the time he gets here, Captain Janeway could be -"

"You don't have to finish that sentence," Rachel interrupted, "And you do have a point. But so does Naomi. We're going to need help."

Taylor grumbled and folded her arms across her chest, but didn't object. I wouldn't have mattered if she had.

"You need not worry about that," said a figure, stepping out of the shadows, "You're not going anywhere."

x

Rhanda gasped, staring at the unfamiliar figure. The alien standing in front of them was wearing long blue robes and had silver hair that was longer than hers. But what Rhanda noticed most were his eyes. Matching his robes, they were blue. Dark blue, with a thin silver strip outlining the pupil.

Rhanda watched as Rachel stepped protectively to the front of the group, eyeing the man skeptically. Rhanda tried to understand what Rachel was worried about. The man didn't seem to be any threat to them. But he was looking at Rachel with the same distrust she had shining out of her eyes.

Then the man's head jerked and he was suddenly staring right at Rhanda. She froze. His blue eyes were stunning, and it somehow felt that he was reading her mind. And, she thought, he very well could be.

Their eye contact was suddenly broken as Taylor shoved the man, and he stumbled.

"Taylor!" Rhanda said, shocked.

"Didn't you see what was happening?" she hisses, "You were completely mesmerized by him - he could have used you to do anything for him."

Rhanda opened her mouth to tell Taylor that she knew exactly what was going on, but the alien cut her off.

"It's all right," he said, addressing Rachel, "I won't harm any of you. I was merely checking to see if anyone was occupying her body."

If anything, both Rachel and Taylor looked even more suspicious. "What are you talking about? Who are you?!"

The man bowed his head respectfully. "I apologize. I should have realized that children would never be able to believe me without a reason."

Rhanda felt Taylor bristle beside her and mutter, "There's that 'children' thing again."

Charlie tapped Rachel's arm, but she was too busy talking to the alien to notice. He had made her mad, Rhanda could tell, but Rachel was desperately trying not to yell, her voice low and angry.

"You can't expect anyone to trust you, children or adults, when you appear out of nowhere, especially if you refuse to give your name!"

"Very well," the alien answered, and with no other explanation said, "I am Unami."

Rachel gritted her teeth in annoyance as Charlie tapped her again. "What?!" she snapped, turning to her. Charlie, face solemn, pointed. All the girls turned as one, and froze as they followed Charlie's finger.

Commander Chakotay stood in the doorway, staring at them. Captain Janeway was nowhere in sight. Rhanda felt her gut clench as she realized all the possibilities that suggested. The other girls were obviously thinking the same, because Naomi paled, and Meredith's eyes widened. Rachel had the exact opposite reaction as Meredith, as her eyes narrowed and she spun around to face Unami. Rhanda's own eyes narrowed as she figured out what Rachel must have realized seconds before.

Commander Chakotay had been standing behind them. This meant that Unami had known he was there the entire time. Rhanda and Rachel glanced at each other. Rachel shrugged and shook her head a little. The meaning was clear. He should definitely be made to explain himself, but right now, we have greater problems. They both turned their backs to him. Rhanda backed up as Chakotay started for them, his green eyes flashing. Wait. Green?

Then, suddenly, Rhanda didn't have time to think anymore. She watched as Chakotay tripped and fell face first to the floor in front of them. Everyone looked at Meredith, who was standing a little behind Chakotay, with her foot propped out.

Meredith grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Ooops!"she mouthed at them. Rhanda grinned as she realized that Meredith had tripped him on purpose. Her amusement faded as quickly as it had come, though, as Chakotay scrambled to his feet and turned around to face Meredith, a murderous expression drawn on his face.

"You. . ." he was too angry to finish his sentence. Jaw working furiously, he started toward Meredith, pulling out the phaser that the girls had seen on the bedside table. Rhanda's heart sank as she realized that what should have been their best hope had just turned into their biggest problem.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy.


	12. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_2376 - Voyager - In-between deck 4 and 5 - Jeffries Tube_

Captain Janeway crawled through the Jeffries Tubes, fully aware that she was leaving Naomi Wildman and the other girls to fend for themselves against an armed and dangerous alien.

He had knocked her out, and by the time she had come to, the alien (she refused to think of him as Chakotay) had found the girls. Knowing that there was nothing in her quarters that she could use to stop him, and since she had already tried and failed to reason with him, Janeway quickly resorted to a more practical solution.

Janeway found a hatch and quickly got out of the Jeffries tube, slamming it closed behind her. She sprinted down the corridor.

Going to the bridge would have been acceptable, but they didn't have the material she needed. Besides, Tuvok was sure to have everything under control there. Sickbay was the better option. The Doctor was there, and if she was lucky, perhaps he had found a cure and she would also have the assistance of Torres, Kim and Paris. It was an unlikely happening, but still a possibility. Maybe . . .

Her thoughts were cut off mid-sentence as she rounded a corner at top speed as crashed into something coming from the opposite direction. Before she could blink, she was on the ground, looking into the very surprised face of Neelix.

"Captain!" Neelix exclaimed, also on the floor, "Oh, Captain, I am so sorry. I was in such a hurry - I didn't see you!"

Janeway couldn't help smiling, "Don't worry about it, Neelix. I'm in a rush, too. In fact, why don't you come with me to sickbay?"

Neelix frowned, "But Captain, I can assure you, I'm not sick. Why, the Doctor just recently gave me a hypospray for . . ."

Janeway cut him off, "I understand that you're not sick, Neelix, but the girls are in danger, and I'm going to Sickbay to help them."

As she said these words, she was reminded of the levity of the situation, and she began strolling down the corridor, Neelix walking very quickly to keep up. Neelix luckily controlled his usual rambling to two small words that she knew very well.

"Yes, ma'am!"

It was crunch time.

x

The bridge was extremely quiet. The usual sounds of padds and consoles in use were still there, of course, but other than that, the bridge was extremely quiet. There was no casual teasing or conversation. Tom and Harry's usual banter and jokes were gone, along with the low murmur of conversation that could usually be heard from the command chairs. No one chuckled, no one smiled. It was almost . . . Vulcan.

Tuvok took some time to enjoy the unusual silence, but presently, he noticed that he was the only one doing so. In fact, most of the bridge crew was going about their duties with worried or restless looks on their faces. They wanted to know what was happening; to be where the action was.

Although several people were scrutinizing internal sensors, watching for any sign or hint of trouble, Engineering still couldn't bring up the COM System. Of course, they didn't have B'Elanna, and it was a lower priority at the moment. Mostly everybody was working on Captain Janeway's plan. But the delay was still causing some inconveniences. Such as now.

Tuvok needed to bring up the bridge morale. The bridge crew could not stand being uniformed, especially in matters concerning their own ship. And the COM system was down. But mostly, if morale on the bridge was to improve, or become more emotional, then it would not do to have a Vulcan looking over their shoulders. So Tuvok handed the bridge over to the next in rank, and headed down to deck 5, to bring news of those in sickbay.

x

Rachel froze as Chakotay advanced upon Meredith. She wanted to stop him, strike him, but making any sudden moves would surely get Meredith killed.

A hissing noise filled the silence, and it seemed to Rachel that her mind was playing tricks on her, for the room seemed almost foggy, and Chakotay's green eyes were all that she could clearly see. The moment seemed to last forever, and at first she thought that time had frozen with her. Then the status-quo was broken, and Rachel thought that it hadn't lasted nearly long enough.

Chakotay fired the phaser. "Meredith!" a voice yelled. It took a few seconds for Rachel to realize that the voice was hers. And that Meredith herself had screamed another name.

"CHARLIE!"

For Charlie had jumped in front of Meredith to receive the impact of the blow. And she fell.

Rhanda gasped, her hands immediately covering her mouth. Taylor looked shocked and then furious. Naomi looked scared. Meredith had knelt next to Charlie and was coughing. Rachel started towards Charlie. Meredith's coughing worsened. Rachel thought nothing of it at first - Charlie was occupying her whole mind at the moment. But then the phaser dropped from Chakotay's hand and clattered to the floor. Rachel turned, surprised, as his hands went to his throat and he also dropped to his knees, coughing.

Rachel watched on in horror as Taylor, Rhanda, and Naomi also started struggling to breath. And as a tingling began in her own throat, she figured it out. The hissing sound, the fog, the peculiar smell, the coughing. It all clicked into place.

The room had been gassed.

"Everyone out!" she shouted, a hacking cough emerging with the words, "Get out of the room. Now!"

The other girls stumbled for the nearest exit as Rachel reached Meredith and Charlie. Rachel and Meredith each flung one of Charlie's arms over their shoulders and started toward the door. Taylor reached them and took over Meredith's place, as Meredith moved ahead with Rhanda and Naomi.

Chakotay was behind them, also struggling for the door. Rachel felt her vision begin to blur and her step to stumble. Her body felt heavier than normal, especially with Charlie's added weight across her shoulder. The door was so near though. So near.

Naomi and Rhanda reached it first. In her oxygen deprived state, Rhanda stretched out her hand to take the doorknob, only to realize that there wasn't one. Of course, all doors slid open; all doors were controlled by the computer. So, weakly, she leaned into the door and pushed into it, as if she could make it swing open. Naomi was a bit more sensible, as she tried to ask the computer to open the door, but before she could finish the first couple of words, the gas took effect on her small body, and she fell.

Rachel couldn't speak; she was too busy coughing, so it was Taylor who accessed the computer voice controls.

"Computer," she said, one hand over her mouth as she tried not to breathe in the gas, "Open the door."

Meredith fell and the computer answered, "Unable to comply." Rhanda started hitting the door.

Taylor pushed past everyone and put her fingers into the crack between the double doors, trying to pull the door open. Rhanda gave the door one last kick, and collapsed. Taylor strained, her finger turning slightly red. Rachel's legs started shaking, Charlie's full weight now on her shoulders.

Rachel stumbled and dropped Charlie as she was shoved aside. Chakotay stepped over Rhanda, Meredith and Naomi to slam into the door and, finding it not moved at all, also dug his finger into the door crack. Taylor glanced at him but kept pulling. Her thoughts were clear - obviously she had decided that getting her friends out of the room was more important than beating up the guy.

As Rachel felt her consciousness dripping away, two thoughts suddenly revealed themselves to her. The first was that Taylor and Chakotay were not going to open the door. No matter how weak the gas had made them, the door should have opened by now, and that it hadn't meant that it was locked - probably by whoever had let the gas into the room.

The second was that Unami was gone. He had been gone since the gas had entered the room, maybe even before then. She didn't like admitting it, but she would feel much better if he had been lying on the floor.

Rachel closed her eyes as their hope grew smaller and smaller, and her body grew too tired to struggle any longer. But she opened her eyes to see her friends. And the last thing she saw was Taylor, as she also fell. Then the world and the room, along with all her troubles and all her hopes, dissolved into darkness.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek: Voyager. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy. Please review.


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_2376 Unknown_

The first thing Charlie heard when she opened her eyes was a loud, deep, rumbling sound. At first, she thought it was an engine core, or the deck of the ship bouncing as it jumped to warp, but then she lifted her head to find that she had been lying on Taylor's stomach. Charlie laughed quietly; Taylor was still asleep.

"Taylor," she chastised, chuckling and lightly pushing her, "Your stomach seems to be hungry."

"Yes, it is!" Taylor growled, just as loudly as her stomach. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, "Where are we?"

Both girls looked around. They were standing in the countryside. At dusk. Clearly after a long rain.

"Uh, oh," said Charlie.

" I have a bad feeling about this. Where is everybody else?" Taylor asked.

"Computer, end program!" Charlie said. Nothing happened.

Taylor kicked at a puddle and the murky water spattered the ground. She talked to herself, "I think this is the real place. But where exactly is that?"

"Computer, end program!" Charlie yelled. The sound disappeared into the distance. "End program! End program! END PROGRAM!" she shouted.

"Ok, I don't think that's going to work," Taylor said.

"Hellooooooo?" sang a voice in the distance. Taylor and Charlie looked at each other and grinned.

"Huh. What do you know?" Taylor muttered, and they ran toward the sound.

Rhanda, Meredith, Rachel and Naomi came trotting up the hill.

"Hey guys!" Rachel said.

"Howdy," Taylor answered.

"Where are we?" Rhanda asked.

"Can I die now?" Meredith panted, and she sat on the ground.

"Only if you take me with you," Charlie responded.

"No idea," Taylor replied to Rhanda, "We just woke up."

"Computer, end program," Naomi said.

"Already tried that," Taylor and Charlie said in unison.

"Oh," Naomi said.

Rachel broke in, "Well, maybe it's broken. Computer, exit." Nothing. "Computer, arch." Nothing.

"Like that was going to work," Taylor said sarcastically, "Why don't you just try, 'Computer, give me an ice-cream sandwich!'"

Charlie handed her an ice-cream sandwich.

Everyone looked at her.

"What the heck?" Taylor said, while tearing open the wrapping, "Where did you get this?!"

Charlie smiled and pointed to her backpack. "I thought it would be good to have some things with us in case we needed them, so I took the books and pencils out of my backpack and put more useful things in it while we were in sickbay."

"Wow," said Rhanda.

"That works for me! Thanks, Doc!" Taylor said with her mouth full, and toasted Charlie with her ice-cream sandwich.

"Can I have one?" Rachel asked.

"Me too!" Meredith said.

"Can we, like, figure out what's going on?" Rhanda asked.

"Right," Rachel agreed, taking an ice-cream sandwich."So let's brainstorm. Where are we?"

"Not the holodeck," Charlie said.

"Obviously," Taylor muttered.

"We could be on the holodeck of another ship; maybe it works differently," Rhanda said.

"Maybe we're dreaming," Charlie smiled hopefully.

"My stomach's not dreaming," Taylor grimaced, "I'm still hungry."

"We're dead," Meredith said matter-of-factly from the ground.

"Oh, please," said Taylor, "If we were dead, I wouldn't still be hungry."

Naomi looked around. "I think we're on an alien planet."

Rachel grinned, "Now that's the first logical statement I've heard since getting here."

Naomi smiled.

"Hey!" Taylor interupted, "My hunger is a logical statement!"

"It might be a statement, Taylor," Rhanda grinned, "But I wouldn't go about calling it logical!"

"Hmmph!" said Taylor.

Rachel ignored the antics going on beside her and spoke to Naomi. "Ok. So we are possibly on an alien planet with no combadges and minimal food. What do we do now?"

"We need to get back to the ship as fast as possible!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Yeah," said Meredith, who had finally stopped playing dead, "But how do we get there?"

"Well that's easy," Rhanda said, turning from her conversation with Taylor. "We follow the yellow brick road!" She pointed to a path that curved west around some trees and out of sight.

"Excellent," Rachel hissed softly. "Everybody come on!" And she took off.

"Well, let's go!" Charlie said, and swung her backpack over one shoulder.

As everyone headed off down the path, toward the setting sun, Charlie distinctly heard Naomi's confused voice whisper, "The yellow what?"

x

"What happened?!" Janeway's head automatically whipped around to the familiar face at tactical - Tuvok, the only senior officer besides her who was still on the bridge.

"Seven flooded the quarters with netrozine gas, just as you ordered," Tuvok replied with his usual Vulcan calm, "But it seems the alien transported them before we could vent the gas."

"All of them?"

"Affirmative."

Janeway swore.

"Orders, Captain?" Tuvok asked, still working his consol.

Janeway took her seat. "Mr. Tuvok, it looks likes we're switching to plan B."

Tuvok looked up.

"We have a plan B?"

x

"My toes are getting wet," Meredith complained, as the girls continued down the road. They sky was getting darker and the first stars were already visible. Only a faint orange glow was eminating from the place where the sun had just been, in front of them.

"We might need to find a place to sleep," Naomi said practically.

"But we can't stay here all night!" Meredith wailed, "It'll be freezing."

"Not tired," Charlie said.

"I'm not tired, either," Taylor agreed, "But is anyone else starving?"

"I'm fine," Rhanda said.

"Me!" said Charlie.

"It wouldn't be a good idea to eat the food here, even if we found some," Rachel pointed out.

"Right," said Naomi, "We don't have tricorders to tell what's poisonous and what's not."

"Tricorders?" Charlie asked.

"Awe, that's easy!" Taylor sniffed, "If it looks dangerous, or has thorns, don't eat it! If it looks edible, go ahead! That's my method."

"We need a tricorder?" Charlie wondered.

"But Taylor," Rhanda said, "You think everything looks edible."

"Hmmm, good point. . . ." Taylor pondered.

"Well, I have a tricorder in my backpack," Charlie stated.

"What?" Rachel, Rhanda, Taylor, Meredith and Naomi said together.

"Well, yeah!" Charlie said, getting it out, "I thought it might be useful."

Rachel snatched it out of her hand. "Brilliant! Well done, Doc!" Charlie grinned.

Rachel opened the tricorder. Then she turned it upsidedown. Then she turned it back, and handed it to Naomi. "Can't make heads of tails of it. I believe you have some experience in this area."

Naomi took it, grinning. "A bit." She scanned the area as everyone watched her with baited breath.

The sun was completely gone now, and with no lights except for the small blinking buttons on the tricorder, the sky was filled with millions upon millions of stars. "Look for Voyager up there," Rachel whispered.

Naomi gasped.

"What is it?" said Rhanda, quickly.

"Food?" Taylor asked hopefully.

"Dry socks?" Meredith hypothesized.

"Voyager?" Rachel guessed.

"A bunch of drunk Klingons who are going to fight us in the name of honor and then try to take over the ship?" asked Charlie.

Everyone looked at her.

"It could happen!" she retorted defensively.

"No," Naomi said, answering everyone's off-the-wall guesses, "It's a power source."

No one said anything. Then Taylor said what everyone was thinking. "Uh. . . .so?"

"So it's really close by!" Naomi said, starting off down the path again as fast as her legs could carry her. The others had to walk quickly to hear what she was saying, "And it could be anything - a communications module, a shuttle, shelter - but whatever it is, it's bound to be useful in some way!"

"We'll take your word for it," Rachel gasped, a little out of breath, "As long as we get there soon!"

"We're here!" Naomi said, stopped short. They all slid to a halt.

"I don't see anything," Meredith said. And then it loomed out of the darkness.

"What," Taylor said, slowly and deliberately, "is that?"

It looked like an enormous rock, the size of an elephant, just sitting in the middle of the path. the end of the path, actually. Behind the rock, the path disappeared and turned into fields as far as the eye could see - which wasn't very far at all in the darkness.

Naomi was pouring over the tricorder readings. "Guys, this is incredible!"

"This rock?" Taylor said incredulously, pointing a it with her thumb.

"Yes!" she nodded, "I don't really understand it completely - it's very complex - but I've been studying about this with Seven and I think it has something to do with temporal displacement!"

"Whadda whadda?" Meredith asked.

But Rachel's eyes widened, "Temporal? Naomi, are you saying that you think this is what brought us here?"

Naomi nodded, "Or something like it. Lietenant Torres would know for sure."

"Ok," Rhanda said, "That's nice to know, but what can we do with it? Since it's a power source, can we use it to set up a homing beacon?"

Naomi grinned and held up the tricorder, "Already done."

"Too late," said a voice. All six girls spun around.

Unami stepped out from behind the Rock.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek: Voyager. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy. Please review.

_A/N: This story is coming to an end in a couple chapters. There will be sequel to this story. This time it will be written completely by me._


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_2376 - Voyager - Deck 1 - Bridge_

The turbolift doors swished open with their usual gusto. Somehow, though, today the sound felt a little more sweet.

Janeway turned in her chair and smiled as Harry Kim, Tom Paris, and Commander Chakotay stepped onto the bridge. "Welcome back, gentlemen," she said as they moved to take their stations, "I hope you all thanked the Doctor."

"Profusely," Tom answered.

Chakotay took his seat next to her and Janeway smiled, muttering out of the corner of her mouth, "Feeling better?"

"Much," he said, and she noticed as he lightly tapped the back of his hand. When she turned and looked at him questioningly, he grinned sheepishly and she noticed with relief that his eyes had returned to their normal dark brown color. "Just making sure," he said.

"Yeah," she said softly, "Me, too."

"Captain," Tuvok interrupted, "We are receiving a signal on a Starfleet frequency."

"What's it say?" Janeway asked.

"It is not a message," Tuvok replied, "It is a distress call. Originating from the third planet in a nearby system."

"I've got it," Paris said, from the helm, "Approximately 2.7 light years from here. Right where we expected it to be. Captain?"

"Set a course and engage," Janeway said immediately. Then she leaned over to Chakotay. "Whatever happened to the alien?"

"She's in sickbay. Took her own body back when she couldn't use mine," Chakotay answered.

"Dead?" Janeway asked, seriously.

"No, just sedated," Chakoty said grimly, "The doctor decided it would be better not to wake her."

"I'd tend to agree," Janeway said, grinning. Then she tapped her combadge. "Janeway to Engineering."

"Torres here, Captain."

Janeway felt a surge of affection for the engineer. "It's good to hear your voice again, B'Elanna."

"Thank you, Captain."

"Are you ready down there?"

"As ready as we'll ever be, Captain."

"Captain," Paris turned around at the helm as the ship dropped out of warp, "We're here."

Janeway tilted her chin, taking in the planet on the viewscreen that looked to chillingly similar to Earth. Then her hands gripped the armrests of her chair and she gave the order.

"Do it."  
x  
"Why do you keep showing up?" Rachel asked, "What do you want?" Then another thought occured to her. "Did you bring us to this planet?"

Unami tilted his head, as if pondering whether he should answer the questions or not. Then he nodded. "Very well. Yes, I brought you here. My species can transport ourselves and others without the technology that you use."

He demonstrated, disappearing and then reappearing behind them. He bowed. "I am a government official from Andante - this planet. I came aboard your ship searching for a fugitive by the name of Enani."

Rachel looked incredulous. "You could have just asked us! I'm sure Captain Janeway would be happy to assist you!"

Unami looked surprised. "But, I already have! Captain Janeway is bringing her here as we speak. Unfortuneatly I had to use you as leaverage - to make sure that she would keep her word. You see, Andantians cannot transport each other, so I am having to rely on your people's limited transportation techniques."

"So what you're saying is," Charlie said slowly, "You're holding us hostage?"

"Essentially," said Unami.

"Can I punch him now?" Taylor muttered under her breath.

"Captain Janeway will keep her word," Naomi said seriously.

"We do not. . . trust as easily as you seem to," Unami said, slowly and evenly.

"Then," Rhanda said, "You will end up just like your fugitive Enani - friendless and preying on innocent people."

Unami stepped forward, infuriated. "I take that as a great insult. It is a crime among my people to do the things that Enani does; very few even possess the ability. But I have dedicated my life to stopping people like her."

"But by kidnapping us, you're acting just like her!" Meredith exclaimed, "That doesn't make any sense."

Unami, with the starlight twinkling off his silver hair, seemed suddenly exhausted. "Very well," he sighed, and in an instant, he was gone.

"He could at least say good bye so we know he's leaving," Taylor grumbled.

"Where do you think he went?" Rhanda asked, and everyone looked up at the stars.

"Voyager," Charlie suggested. Everyone else made murmurs of agreement.

Then, "Home," Meredith said suddenly, and for the first time, Rachel felt a surge of homesickness.

"What an adventure this has been," she murmured.

Suddenly they heard the whine of a transporter behind them and they all spun around. No one appeared.

"What was that about?" Meredith asked, walking forward. She tripped in the darkness. "Ouch!"

"It's our backpacks!" Taylor cried, lifting one up from the ground. "Here's your's, Rhanda." She tossed them to their owners.

"But why. . ." Rachel began.

Again, the whine of the transporter covered her words . . . and Naomi dematerialized into the bright blue light.

"Naomi!"

Rachel sat down right there on the path and put her head in her hands. "Well, that's it then," she said, voice quavering.

"What's it?" asked Rhanda.

"Don't you see? They're leaving us here!" Rachel yelled, her voice reverberating into the night.

There was silence for a moment. Then Taylor said, "That's ridiculous."

Charlie agreed, "They'll beam us up next."

But Rachel was already shaking her head. "They won't. If they were going to, they'd have beamed us up with Naomi! They gave us our backpacks because they don't want us anymore!"

"No." Rhanda said in a strange, choked kind of voice, "They gave us our backpacks because they're sending us home."

Rachel looked up. The huge rock was glowing. A dull, orange-ish glow at first, the color of the setting sun, but it was growing brighter and brighter by the second.

"Look!" Meredith said. A stream of white light was running into the Rock from the sky. "It's Voyager. They're heating it up!"

"Or something of the sort," Rachel said, getting excited. She stood up. "This rock has temporal properties."

"It's not really a rock, you know," Taylor clarified, "It's a power source."

"I think," Rhanda said, "We should touch it."

"I agree," Rachel backed her.

"Ok!" Charlie said happily.

"What if it burns our hands off?" Meredith asked.

"The Doctor can always replace them," Charlie said cheerfully.

"Great," Taylor said sarcastically.

"Ok, on the count of three!" Rachel said commandingly, and they all put their hands out, ready to touch it together.

"One. . ."

"Two. . ."

x

Naomi looked up at Captain Janeway. "Do you think they made it?"

"Only one way to find out," Janeway replied, "To the history books!"

And the two of them strode down the corridor.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek: Voyager. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy. Please review.

_A/N: There will be be one more chapter to post. Or will there be more. That's for you to find out, but it is nearing the end._


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

When I opened my eyes, I saw that my hand was holding onto the lock on Charlie's locker. I let go, looking around at my friends, amazed.

"We're back," Rhanda whispered.

"We're not dead," Meredith muttered.

"No duh," Taylor growled.

"I don't believe it!" Charlie yelled.

We all grinned at one other.

"You'd better believe it," came a voice from behind us.

I spun around, expecting Unami, Enani, Chakotay, or even Naomi or Captain Janeway, but it was only a school official.

"Believe what?" Rhanda asked.

"Believe that you're late to class!" the school official said sharply, "So quit dreaming, you five, and get going!"

A smile flitted across my face. "Voyager," I said, "Is more than just a dream. Much more."

And, laughing, we left the very confused school official behind us, and headed off to our next great adventure.

x

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek: Voyager. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy. Please review.

_A/N: The end is here. Or is it? There will a sequel like I said. It's going going to be wicked. It was been like three or four years in the future for the Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. That is all I'm going to say. Don't want to kill the surprise fr al you readers._


	16. Several Years Later

Several Years Later

"Q!" Janeway roared.

"Awe, come on, Kathy, don't be spoilsport! After all you've done for me, you deserve a reward!" Q grinned, patronizingly.

"I don't _want _a reward Q!" Janeway insisted, "I'd prefer it if you left my ship."

"Nonsense!" Q chuckled, "You're just saying that. Wait!" he held up a hand, "I've got it! I'll let you say hello to some old friends!"

With a snap of his fingers, five girls appeared on the bridge. One was writing. Another had her hands outstretched, and looked as if she had been driving; she fell to the floor with a thud. A different girl had her hands up, like she was doing karate. The fourth was pretending to be a pirate, and the last one, who was already sitting on the floor, looked as if she had been playing video games.

Rachel, Rhanda, Taylor, Meredith, and Charlie looked at each other. Then, in perfect unison, they groaned.

"Not again!"

x

_A/N: This is just a little preview of what is to come. Guess what episode they are in? They are only three Q episodes so that should help those die hards out there and not so die hards out there._


End file.
